


Shoot Her Down

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Alternate Universe, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Captivity, Drinking, F/F, Gang Violence, Heroes to Villains, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Minor Violence, Not What It Looks Like, Old Friends, Rivalry, Stalking, Texting, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 17:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 44,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7627000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you get too obsessed with winning to prove yourself? Eh, you might just become the new leader of a villainous team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> A story prompt one of my friends wanted me to pick up. In short, Team Mystic, and more specifically Blanche, have become obsessed with winning to the point where they overtake most if not all of the remaining gyms for their own, leaving the other two teams stranded. This eventually leads to Blanche’s frightening descent to becoming a villain.

The summer evening could not have been hotter if it tried. Even inside with the fans going full blast Candela was sweating her guts out trying to keep cool under the intense heat. Spark had called in for the night, unable to stay up and endure the torture alongside the other leaders, and honestly now Candela envied him for slipping out before reports came in. He would have an excuse in the morning whilst she and Blanche would not.

So here she was, signing off document after document and writing down the names of notable leaders and gyms to look into when she had spare time tomorrow. Dragonite, Gyrados, Hypno, all the same Pokemon names repeating over and over again as her eyes scanned the paper. With a glance at her watch the time read five after one in the morning and she couldn’t conceal her groan. How long had she been glued to the seat?

Soon her thoughts became too distracting as she focused on anything other than what was right in front of her. Had she healed up Arcanine after the battle today? Yes. Wait, how about those swarm reports on the Pidgey? That was another thing to add to her chore list. She needed to make lunch before she left tomorrow so that she didn’t forget it again. And come to think of she got enough candy from that Vulpix encounter to evolve one of hers into a Ninetales without much trouble.

There was a floor panel creaking behind her, was Spark awake? Whipping her head back she saw no one evident in the dim lighting, just her Poké Balls and bag laying astray on the couch. Spark would most definitely stay passed out for a few more hours so what was the noise?

Oh wait Blanche was still here, she’d forgot. Though hard to blame her seeing as the other hadn’t made a sound since they had first met up that evening. With a distant glance at the papers, Candela excused herself and stretched, hearing her tired joints ache from a lack of sleep. Knowing Blanche she was either as active as a teenager on five cups of coffee or half asleep over her work, and it seemed the latter was more likely.

When she turned the corner to enter the room corresponding to the kitchen, the other gym leader was very much awake and sitting at a table lit only by a few candles. To her side was a cup of tea, still steaming and presumably just prepared as usual. The only odd thing about the sight was the lack of a novel that Blanche would never be caught without, and it drew Candela near. There was something uncomfortable about seeing the other stoic leader simply gazing into their beverage like it held the answers to the world.

“You look a bit out of it,” Blanche looked up, caught sight of Candela and grimaced, “No need for that, I’m not here to challenge you or bug you about stuff, I just wanted to see if you were okay. It’s weird to see even you like this when you’re still awake.” Blanche held her gaze for a moment, then looked away, eyes focusing on the hot drink beside her.

“I’m just thinking, is there a problem with that? I’ll move if my processing interrupts your daily routine.” She went to stand up and walk away, but before she could Candela was already moving to put her hands on her shoulders and push her back down.

“No no it’s fine, that’s not what I meant. But if I may ask, care to share what you’re thinking so much about?”

“It’s nothing important. Just Professor Willow.”

Candela let out a sad sigh, “Another argument?”

“He refuses to see things from my perspective. I brought up a logical point about triggering evolutions and he denied me without even hearing out what I had to say. It’s like he doesn’t trust me or the potential me and my team carry. The work we do isn’t even productive, it’s more chores than anything,” Blanche moved her tea aside with a stray finger and looked up to gape at her, “Catching Pokemon and training is one thing, but how are we supposed to be making the best of this if we continue to play safe. Some of the best investments in evolution have been because of intense research, and it’s not like anyone is getting hurt.”

Under Blanche’s intense look Candela felt her control slip. “I guess he just doesn’t consider you on his level yet. We are still his students, so naturally we would be taking on the dirty work and minute tasks. Don’t get me wrong, we’re important and he wouldn’t be able to function without the three of us. You and your team contribute something important, and don’t let a few arguments sway your mind.” Candela left out the point that triggering evolution forcefully was immoral, knowing Blanche wouldn’t take too kindly to her thoughts being criticized. Blanche still didn’t look convinced even after all of it though.

“It’s hard not to think about, at least for me. Candela, we really are being taken advantage of here. Cheated is probably the word to describe it. I bet if we were given free reign we could do so much more,” Blanche stood up, her chair squealing against the old planks, “Think about it, we have the manpower. We have everything we could ever need right in our hands, so shouldn’t we be taking advantage of it?”

“What like to use your team to promote? We already do that Blanche.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Candela rolled her eyes. “So then explain to me why this has suddenly caused a problem with you. I thought you were happy being part of Team Mystic.” That seemed to break the spell on Blanche, as she stared up with passionate aqua eyes, bewildered at what her rival had just said.

“I am happy, don’t you see? I’m proud of what we have accomplished and I want to share that with the world. But the professor stands in the way of that and that’s the problem. I admire him, but not to where I am blind to a fault. It’s not fair that my team works so hard in the field and are repaid with nothing.” The other seemed to grow more uneasy, and it was something strange on the normally cool as a cucumber leader.

“You have been given a lot in return, and there’s likely no hard feelings coming from your teammates. If anything, they feel validated to be working towards a bigger cause. I mean, look at all of the gyms under your name. Surely that has to count for something.”

“I just want there to be something more, and playing dolly to the professor’s whims isn’t changing that.” A hand reached up to brush away the strands of white hair that had broken free from her ponytail and formed a good impression of bangs on Blanche. It projected a look of fatigue that Candela had rarely ever seen in her lifetime.

“Well you’re smart, go out there and make some changes. Knowing you, you could accomplish anything once you put your mind to it. You’ve got a whole team already on your side and you can count me in. Not literally of course, but you get what I mean. We may be rivals but I still want to see you succeed.”

“...” No reply. Blanche looked as engrossed in her thoughts as ever, and it was evident she wouldn’t be shaken anytime soon. With a faint frown, Candela stood from her makeshift seat on the table and walked back into the kitchen, intent on brewing some coffee in preparation for a late night.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

It had only been a few days after the incident and Blanche was already breaking into the headquarters of the team leaders to furiously pack her things. Out of context it was almost funny, and Spark and Candela could only stand by and observe the normally composed leader slowly unravel under what had to be oceans of stress on her back. Later they would find out that what happened that day would spawn one of the worst nightmares the team would ever have to deal with, but for the time being the two were unwillingly tasked with the job of trying to figure out why the hell Blanche looked ready to tear into her bedroom without a moment’s notice.

For minutes the both of them stayed quiet, unsure of what they could do or say to improve the situation. It was only when Blanche was reaching for the last of her clothes and research papers that they realized one of them had to say something before Blanche took off with all the speed of a Rapidash. Candela was about to do the honours and pray she didn’t take much backlash before Spark bravely took a step forward, trying to put on the most convincing face possible.

“Um, Blanche?” Spark spoke up, looking as though he would comfort her until she turned and fixed him with a sharp glare.

“Yes.”

“What’cha up you?”

“I’m leaving,” Blanche paused, “For now.”

“Leaving? That’s a bit sudde-“

“Willow thinks I should just stay in my place as his student. I wasn’t even doing anything wrong this time either! But no, we had to be demoted. Hell, he took away some of my gyms as punishment. My trainers are suffering because of his mistake-“ Blanche interrupted, face grim.

Spark met eyes with Candela, who dipped her head sympathetically. Clearly, her advice hadn’t done much to sway the minds of either party, and it ended with Mystic being set back a few steps. Guilt crept up behind her as she watched Blanche recede back into her sorry state.

“-eyond unfair, and I won’t settle for this. Spark, Candela, you’re with me right?” The other leader looked up desperately, eyes searching for compassion or empathy of any kind. For once, Spark didn’t relent under her hold and stood up straight, hands clenched into fists.

“Blanche, he has a point you know. We need to stay in line otherwise the data we collect means nothing. I know you want to pull something out of this experience but we need to listen to what he has to say. If Willow thinks something will end badly then he’s probably right you know.”

“Spark you don’t get it. This isn’t just about research anymore, my own team is becoming as useless as can be. What’s the point in doing this if the data we do collect is never taken up on, or even considered?”

“Well, that’s up to Willow, maybe if you talked to him-“

“I do talk to him and he never listens! Don’t you understand? I need help, I need you guys. If all three of us stand up to him surely he’ll be threatened enough to do something!”

“I’m not threatening the professor Blanche. I think this silly evolution concept and competition have gotten to your head. You’re supposed to be the reasonable one here Blanche, so think for yourself. Do you honestly believe you’ll be able to manage on your own? Team Mystic alone aren’t enough to do anything let alone kick out the professor, and I’m not risking my own team by standing up for you. If you have a problem with how we do things around here, then go fix the problem yourself. I think I can safely say for both Candela and me that the way we do things now is fine and we feel as though we get enough results from what we do accomplish. You’re the only one unsatisfied here Blanche, so I hate to say it, but get over yourself.”

“You are a fool Spark,” Blanche turned her glare towards Candela, “And you- No. Actually, I still remember you trying to help a few days ago. I’m just upset you’d let Spark speak up for you when I know you have it in you to say something. No point in trying to convince you of anything seeing as how you’re willing to follow Willow like obedient little Growlithe.” Blanche flung the bag over her shoulder and gave one last look to her two rivals, one of hidden malice.

“I guess this is goodbye then, good riddance.” Candela could only sit by and watch as the doors slammed from behind Blanche, her form slowly being swallowed up by the pouring rain outside. Spark for once didn’t comment nor joke, and instead sat down parallel to Candela, burrowing his face into his arms. No words needed to be said.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

No one expected the whole fight to drag on so long, but after three weeks and no word from Blanche the team leaders started to get worried. Team Mystic was still on the map and still competing, quite well actually, but Blanche was practically gone off of the face of the earth. She didn’t return phone calls or show up for meetings, which was beyond unusual for her, seeing as she thought people that were late were the worst kind of people out there.

It got to the point where Candela was so attention starved she forced herself to go outside and find some answers. With Blanche still not answering her phone the only solution would be to travel to a Mystic gym and get primary evidence from whoever was there. Luckily the block she was on was not too far from a recently transformed Mystic gym, and with a half an hour to spare she decided it would be best to get it over with and see what she could do.

The night was cool and already Candela could see Drowzee peeking out from behind dumpsters and Zubat waking from their daily slumber. Without the harsh daylight the earth seemed to settle down and transform into a paradise that could only really be captured if one was paying attention. Candela was one to know, being the most adventurous of the three leaders and always eager to catch Pokemon, even at two in the morning. The sights to behold were nothing new, but that didn’t rob them of their beauty.

In the distance the aurora of blue coating the sky could only mean the Mystic gym, and Candela picked up her pace, eager to finally get in contact with some of the staff inside. The building was familiar enough, and the faint melody of swing music was present, likely played by one of the gym leaders that were celebrating their imminent victory. Seeing as how no one could beat them it made sense to be so over confident, but it didn’t mean that Candela liked it.

When she finally get to the gym and had climbed the steps the whole trip took a turn for the worst. The people guarding the gym looked on edge when she entered it, and any human being that saw her inside would turn and walk the opposite direction. By the time she managed to find a girl willing to talk she had already been there for about ten minutes. The petite girl was busy cleaning the fins of her Seel and didn’t look too bothered when Candela sat down beside her, simply observing. When she went to reach for a brush though, her eyes met with Candela’s and flashed with a brief bout of disbelief before returning to normal.

The girl drew her lips together and hesitated, but ultimately spoke up. “Pardon my rudeness but by any chance would you be Candela?”

“Yeah, that would be me! And no need to worry, you’re not rude at all. In fact, you’ve been the nicest trainer to me here so far.” Candela put on her sweetest smile, and the girl gave a smile of her own that looked rather forced.

“Probably because we’re told not to talk to you guys until after Blanche gives us the order to. I don’t see much use in that though so here I am.” The information made Candela frown, but she pushed the expression off of her face in favour of not scaring the girl away.

“So Blanche is alive! We haven’t heard from her in weeks. Is she doing alright?”

“She just spoke to us yesterday actually, but she did seem a bit different. Feels like she’s been changing a lot these days though no one else seems to care.” Immediately after saying that the girl looked around suspiciously, almost on edge. The whole atmosphere of the conversation changed and now it sounded like a good plan to head home.

“Huh. I’m glad to hear she’s not hurt or anything. Still odd of her to just disappear like that.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Well, that’s all I really needed to know. Thanks- um, I never got your name.”

“Oh that’s not important,” The girl tried to lessen the bits of information she told and Candela was starting to figure out the reason why, “Anyways, no problem. Um, good luck with your gyms!”

“Uh, okay?” Candela stood up and watched the girl pack away her cleaning equipment and recall her Seel into its Poké Ball. With an evidently hurried pace she walked away, disappearing into one of the corridors opposite where they had been sitting. Now that she was gone, all eyes seemed to be on Candela and suddenly she didn’t blame the girl for wanting to get out of there quickly.

The walk out of the doors was the most physically straining process that day, and her heart threatened to break free of her chest at any moment. A few grunts had found it fit to follow her, and with only her Arcanine on hand she didn’t want to run the risk of being caught off guard with only one Pokemon to defend herself with. Everyone inside looked hostile and even once she had turned the corner and was no longer in sight her skin itched with the unwanted feeling of observation. It was nothing like how the previous gyms were run, when trainers and gym leaders were protective but still welcoming. Somehow, it didn’t feel like her rank was the problem either, as Spark had mentioned his trainers running into difficulty with communication earlier too.

Candela decided it wasn’t worth dwelling on though, and by the time she had crossed the street and the adrenaline had fully worn off the feeling of exhaustion hit her full force. She no longer wanted to train but simply pass out on her bed and sleep for a week. Trying to maintain full strength whilst against an unpredictable opponent was never good for one’s health and, come to think of it, she did need a day off. Blanche would possibly be there when she got back, so what did she have to lose?

She turned the final corner towards her gym and was met with a calming blue light, cutting through the dark of the night effortlessly.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Damn it, Valor’s gym numbers are dropping like flies!” Candela spat, shoving her short list of gym locations into Spark’s face. The other leader looked exhausted, whether it be emotionally or physically though was up to him. He had been listening to her rant for what felt like hours and it was obviously taking its toll on the normally patient man. Candela, too distraught to care, was still talking on.

Spark rose a hand in a pleading gesture to stop before she started on a new string of words. “I really don’t see what the problem is. We lose gyms all the time, it’s the natural order of things Candela. You and I both know there was bound to be more gyms flying a blue flag than any other colour considering how many trainers they attract.” He was looking at her like she was stupid and she didn’t like it.

“But we never lost gyms to such a degree! There was always a hope we would eventually make a comeback. Maybe it’s not as apparent to you but I clearly see a change. We can’t even win back any gyms we used to own. Even you have to admit there’s something wrong with that.” It was worse than bad, no trainers sent out to protect the gyms could fulfill their task, and though it wasn’t their fault by any means Candela still felt the frustration pulse through her veins. Nothing she did worked, no strategy playing out as it should. It was the one time she wished she had Blanche on her side, though ironically Blanche herself was the problem.

“Umm, maybe? I never cared much for the silly competition between you two. The whole reason we took on the task of being team leaders was to work closer with our Pokemon, so don’t lose sight of that. Blanche can own as many gyms as she wants but in the end if you love your team and lead them well you will prevail.” Spark had moved away from her and was focusing his attention on his currently incubating eggs.

Candela didn’t look convinced. “I have been leading them well, and it’s not like we haven’t fallen a bit before. I’m honestly worried, okay? Not just about me, but everyone. You aren’t even on the battlefield anymore and I know you Spark, you love showing off your hatchlings. This is simply unnatural, and it’s hard to get any work done when one team is taking over all of the others. One team isn’t supposed to just win! That’s the natural order of things, not this confusing slaughter of Valor and Instinct gym leaders. Blanche won battles before but never to such a severity.”

Spark paused from his work and looked up at Candela. He opened his mouth to say something but shortly closed it. “Look, this- this is just a rough patch, it happens. At least you’re still here.”

“Unlike another someone we know.”

“Come on, give Blanche a break, she’s just being a bit competitive. There’s been times she’s left before only to rejoin our side. It’s part of her... personality.”

“There’s a difference between personality and a changed mindset. She would sometimes go off by herself before but never would she even think of abandoning us. Have you seen her lately? Because I haven’t. She won’t even talk to me let alone converse about why the heck she’s suddenly become this legendary team leader that is undefeatable in every field. Her little teammates have become so aggressive they’ve picked fights with my own, and we both know she would be the first one to stop anyone from hurting anybody. She’s cold sometimes but she’s not a monster Spark.”

“Point taken, but give her some space,” Spark looked up from where he was, “You know how she can be.”

To say Blanche was going through a “rough patch” was an understatement. It was like someone had kidnapped the brisk yet warm-hearted friend of theirs and replaced her with an android. It was obvious something had gotten into Blanche, but neither she or Spark knew what it was.

Whatever it was though, Candela wasn’t going to let it continue. She had worked too hard to get this far and the chance of victory was slipping out of her grasp. If Blanche wanted to be the supreme victor of the three of them she would have to pry conquest from her own fingers.

“I just want everything to go back to normal.”

“Me too,” Spark exhaled before standing, “Sorry to cut things short but I promised Willow I would donate a few hatchlings of mine to him this morning and I can’t be late. Will you be fine on your own?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about me. I was planning to go to my gym anyways. Thanks for keeping me company.” Spark flashed one of his good nature smiles at her, which helped sooth a bit of her anger in the process. Knowing she could always count on Spark to diffuse troubling issues was beyond comforting.

After Spark had long since left she forced herself to think as she packed her bags for the afternoon. With only a few remaining gyms to protect she had to invest her power in one particular gym, and she had one in mind, crossing it off of the mental list in her mind. The others were on their own until she got there and started working towards a solution, and all she could do was pray their Pokemon’s CP could pull them through the matches. One thing was for sure, whatever battle strategy Mystic had taken on was damn good and she needed to crack the code before there weren’t any gyms left to defend.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Okay ladies and gentlemen it’s time to get this show on the road! I want you all to pair up and challenge each other so hopefully we can get our prestige levels high enough to admit another trainer. The more people we have here, the better we can improvise against Mystic.” Candela felt refreshed, it was a brand new day and her team was bustling with energy. All of them had formed a semi-circle around her and the contagious feeling of merriment was in the air.

It was a new day. And her team had to be capable for the future.

“Any questions?” A chant of no could be heard and most nodded to confirm their answer. With a flick of her wrist, she dismissed the gym leaders and trainers to their own whims so that she could focus on setting up the training grounds for some much-needed practice. Team Valor might have been down by an absurd amount but Spark was right, they could always make a stunning comeback. She was confident enough to believe there was some strategy out there that could overrule Blanche’s and she was determined to find out what it was.

The lights of the gym turned on automatically and illuminated the small sectioned off parts for each individual usage. The neutral painted walls reflected a red hue because of the occupation of Team Valor and Candela could safely say it fit the gym best. The colour of passion and intensity, perfect for gym battles and competition.

Before she could even get close to the main doors, a woman from the gym’s management ran forth, blonde hair bobbing as she moved. Her face looked a bit pale and she ushered her forth to hear what she had to say.

“Team Leader Candela! There appear to be a few Mystic trainers approaching the gym. I know you were setting up training protocols, but should we stop to let them come in?”

“You’re kidding,” The woman didn’t falter and shook her head, eliciting a groan from Candela, “Well that’s just great. I suppose we’ll have to make do with what we have already. No sense in closing the gym, they’ll just pull rank and slip through the cracks as always. Go ahead and let them in, I’m just going to grab some supplies.”

As the upkeep’s staff scurried about, Candela turned to the gym leader and the two men beside her. “Now listen you three, this is a very important match so I need you to be at your best. I don’t know what tricks Mystic are pulling off but I assume it has something to do with strength pre-evolution. Work with your teams to the best of your ability and keep that passion burning bright. With luck, we should pull through just fine.” The memory of the many other lost gyms flashed sufferably for a second and made Candela pause, pursing her lips. She didn’t want to install a false hope, but she didn’t want to be too confident and be an easy defeat either. She had a duty to her cause, and if Mystic wouldn’t listen to reason then she would have to shake some into them using a battle as a metaphor.

With no reason to remain, Candela headed in the direction of the sliding gym doors, ready to fetch the essential potions which would be called on regardless of who the victor was. Her feet felt like stones, dragging needlessly when she could have easily picked them up. Behind her the gym leaders were chatting enthusiastically and releasing their respective Pokemon, primed for fighting and most importantly, victory. She wished she could share their excitement, but something told her this match would be different, and not in a good way.

With a few minutes to spare, she pulled out her key card and swiped it, revealing the dusty old room chocked full of medicine cabinets and supplies. Trainers usually brought their own, but big matches needed all the support they could get after a tough battle. The nearest box was nearly bursting with potions, revives, and the smell of what could only be bitter herbs buried underneath the modern methods of heating. It was small enough to carry but heavy enough to be a burden, blocking the majority of her view.

Turning around, she used her back to reopen the door and step out. In the distance the sound of footsteps could be heard and it only served to send another wave of nausea over Candela. She didn’t know if she could do this, not again. As if sensing her momentary weakness the box in her hands decided to grow heavier, and Candela was forced to put away her thoughts in light of trying to transport the box out of the room.

Huffing, she trudged forth, barely managing to close the door behind her. Her whole balance was thrown off guard and she managed to miss the sound of movement behind her beneath her panting breaths.

“Need some help there?” Candela almost dropped the box upon hearing the voice behind her. Calm, collected, and oh so familiar.

“Wh- Blanche? What are you doing here?” A pair of gloved hands rested over her own and coaxed her to put the box down through taking the majority of the weight. As the shield fell Blanche’s face became apparent, much different from before. Her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail but it looked messier and a few strands fell over the dull eyes of the normally well-composed leader. Her trench coat and normal attire were replaced with much thicker clothes, fitting for a colder environment. The fluff around the neck looked stifling considering the heat of the room, making Candela let out a wince. And wait- were those glasses?

“It seems only fitting I watch the final match, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Final match? I don’t understand.” Blanche took a step back and waited, letting Candela compose her thoughts. One idea stuck out as most obvious, that they had lost and Team Mystic truly was large enough to take over any remaining locations on the grid. However, she refused to acknowledge it. It sounded so bizarre and so stupid yet seemed to chide its importance at her. One look up at Blanche spoke words though, and she was forced to accept the inevitable, Blanche was here to finally wipe out her team’s chances of victory.

Blanche still didn’t deserve to know she was aware of the situation at hand though. “That’s impossible, this morning we had-“

“This morning was quite some time ago, and I believe you underestimated the size of my team. It took longer than I expected but here we are, home at last. I must say I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Her weird smile of content only served to cut wounds inside Candela.

“I had no idea you would be able to take over them so quickly.”

“Impressed?”

“Yes I’m impressed, but I’m a bit worried too. You haven’t reached out to me or Spark in months, heck even Willow was asking about you,” Upon releasing the name of the professor Blanche’s face darkened considerably, “Now I know you were always a bit iffy around him, but what about us? It’s not like you to just leave without a word of where you would be going.”

“I didn’t forget. Believe me when I say you have as big a part to play in this as I do. It’s just going to take some time for you to understand, and I don’t think I can make it any more obvious until you have lost.” The blank face combined with what nonsense Blanche had just said immediately made Candela do a double-take before laughing loudly.

“Ha! Don’t think I’m losing just yet. I’ll have you know we have the best of the best here and we don’t plan on letting Mystic fly their flag anytime soon. You may have conquered my other gyms but you haven’t conquered me, and I’ll go down before I ever let you take the last of what my team is,” Candela huffed, pointing a gloved finger at her rival, “You shouldn’t be so cocky Blanche, it doesn’t suit you.”

“I’m not being cocky, I’m just telling you the truth. What makes you think the trainers here are any different from the others across the region?”

“You’re acting pretty insufferable today,” Candela murmured, turning her back to Blanche so that she could pick up the box again, “Undeniably they are going to perform better if their team leader is by their side.”

“Well then consider me here to balance the scales. They’ll be so intimidated they won’t think to work their Pokemon properly.”

“Hey I’m competitive but I’m not that competitive. At least not to the point where I’m breathing down the necks of the opposite team,” Candela muttered, steering herself around Blanche so that she could finally put this damn crate down before her entire body weight collapsed from trying to hold it.

Unfortunately, Blanche didn’t get the message and was immediately on her tail. “In times like this you need to do anything to win, and if that means I personally take on your trainers then so be it.”

“Jeez slow down there, you almost sound desperate to fight,” Blanche shot her a look, “Look I’m not willing to let you loose on my gym leaders. They have bigger problems to worry about.” Like buying more time to get some practice in before Blanche’s team could utterly destroy them.

“If you’re so good then it shouldn’t matter.”

“Fine, then how about this. Your challengers battle my gym leaders and to prevent you from unwittingly turning the tides you face me. The side with the majority of the wins takes the gym, fair and square,” Candela relented, standing on the edge of her toes so that she could place the god-forsaken box on the top of the nearby podium close to the training grounds.

“I think that will work perfectly,” Blanche beamed, placing a hand on Candela’s shoulder. It was uncomfortable to say the least, and Candela found herself unknowingly rolling her shoulder back to remove it. Something wasn’t right, something wasn’t familiar.

With a glance back to the determined gym leader, Candela stepped forward and called out her Flareon, letting the light of the Poké Ball bathe the room. Her prized Pokemon stepped out with confidence, head high and tail fluffed out. The air around it pulsed with energy.

“I’m not going to go down without a fight,” Candela murmured, half to herself in reassurance. It was only then that Blanche let loose a soft smile that was almost reminiscent of how she used to be before the competition got too rough.

“Good. I didn’t expect you to.” Without a second to lose, Blanche tossed out a worn Poké Ball and summoned her Lapras with a flash of blinding light. The massive water type let out a shrill cry at its freedom before facing Candela with as much determination as her trainer, cold gray eyes staring right past her. Flareon did nothing more than fluff its tail in preparation and step forward to enter the ring and begin the match.

“An ice type against a fire type? I thought you knew a bit better than that Blanche.” It seemed neither Lapras nor Blanche take much mind to this though, which didn’t do much to calm the nerves of Candela. Her own fears grew from desperation, but regardless her trainers and Pokemon stood strong to defend their name. It was the final push needed to send Candela stalking forward to stand in the desired place to begin the match.

The referee of the gym had raised his hand as a sign to start the match, and all of a sudden it felt like time had slowed down.

And all she could see now was Blanche standing on the other side. It was like staring death in the eyes.

But regardless she had to prevail. “Let’s win this! Flareon, dash forth and hit ‘em with a strong Ember!” Candela commanded, propping her hip forward so that she could easily point at the intended target. Deep down the nervousness was threatening to boil over. It had been so long since she had faced Blanche.

Flareon spat out a cry and chucked forth Embers at Lapras, and was quick to move out of the way before Lapras counterattacked with its own Ice Shard. It Ember barely scratched the other though, and provoked Blanche to flick her wrist, the unspoken signal that likely only her own Pokemon understood. Lapras without fail responded with a deadly Frost Breath that barely missed Flareon and painted the opposing gym wall an eerie icy blue.

The fire eeveelution jumped to the side and dashed forward, sprouting more Embers that littered the gym floor along with Lapras, burning it without a second’s hesitation. Lapras turned and tried to smack away Flareon with its tail but misjudged the turn and missed by mere milliseconds. Candela smirked, the original nervous attitude being replaced with one that mirrored Flareon’s own confidence. In one on one combat there was no way Blanche could compete, yet it seemed Blanche didn’t seem concerned by this.

“Flareon, don’t give up! Dodge every single attack and wait for an opening.” Lapras continued on with a long line of ice attacks, resulting in Flareon being forced to twist and turn in order to dodge. The precision of Candela’s training began to show as her Pokemon continued to evade the attacks using a variety of techniques they had been working on over the span of the last few weeks. Even under the barrage of attacks Flareon didn’t appear troubled or stressed at all, a credit to her trainer.

As the blasts of ice continued the battlefield gradually changed to reflect the freezing temperatures above. The once clear and stable flooring was slowly freezing over, and a small sheet of ice growing underneath the larger Pokemon. It was no wonder that with the conditions worsening Flareon would inevitably slip and lose its balance. With a crash it spun out and finally stopped only a few feet away from Candela.

It only took a second for it to get up and shake its fur, but a second was all Lapras needed to recharge and make a direct hit that smacked Flareon enough to send it flying back into the boundaries of the gym walls. A cry of pain escaped Flareon’s mouth and Candela couldn’t hold back her gasp and she internally willed for her Pokemon to get up before Lapras could land another successful attack. Flareon instead stayed plastered to the ground, taking in rough breath after rough breath, likely partly frozen as a result of the hit. Throughout it all, Lapras failed to relent and made physical contact with what appeared to be a body slam, sending Flareon flying back into the middle of the field where it originated from. One last Ice Breath was all it took for Candela to snap.

“How dare- Alright then, we’ll show you! Flareon, use Flamethrower and don’t hold back!” Flareon barely managed to stumble away from the intense blows enough to finally launch a powered Flamethrower that tore through Lapras in seconds. The brief period of smoke and coals gave Flareon an opportunity to step back and recover. From behind the wall of smoke the silhouette of Lapras gradually appeared, slouching and visibly weakened. Blanche remained in place, seemingly unaffected by the development. In fact, she looked more pleased than anything.

“Lapras.” It was only a word, but it seemed to do enough. The other Pokemon let out a cry and suddenly flung itself forward without resistance, making a direct hit. The prior burn marks seemed to do nothing to the larger ice type and the weakened look in its eyes was hardening into something else. Candela had never seen anything like it before, and it was daunting.

“Flareon, keep dodging and don’t get hit, then use Ember again on the ice beneath you!” The fierce eeveelution followed her orders word for word and continually kept moving. Lapras was attempting to hit hard, but was unable to land a successful attack after the hits. Before Flareon could sprout out another fast move Blanche took notice of the signs, and with a snap of her fingers Lapras had completely halted, rearing its head back as it spread its fins wide, making it appear twice as normal as it should have been.

“Lapras, use Dragon Pulse!” A cold directing finger pointed in her general direction, and Candela only had a second to gasp as her Flareon dodged only for her to inevitably be hit instead. Her ears split open with a ringing noise as her body suddenly lost its balance and went flying into the wall behind her, spastically twitching from overexposure. Candela could only pause to cry out in pain before a second shockwave overtook her and she curled in on herself, trying to minimize the feeling of electricity combined with what could only be described as flaming claws trailing down her flesh.

As her vision swam in and out of existence, shapes blurred her vision, one in particular picking her up and shouting. Candela could barely register the furry exterior of the coat tickling her nose before she blacked out.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous chapter. It fills my heart with joy to know people enjoy what I have written. [I was a bit worried at the first reception because this is the first and only story I have up here] This chapter is quite a bit darker but it's not a horror flick like the tags suggest. I would still be careful if captive situations are a squick for you.  
> There’s mentions of Team Rocket here and there, because I wanted to have a bit of a comparison. I hope it isn’t a bit too blunt haha.

Trying to wake up after being put through so much emotional and physical stress was a nightmare for Candela. At first, just attempting to blink her blearily dry eyes was already a struggle, and from there it only escalated. Slowly but surely, her body’s aches returned, and her newly restored vision wavered. Her whole body felt punished, and with a groan she curled in on herself, clutching her stomach for dear life. She did not want to be sick, not here.

From just clenching and unclenching her fingers Candela could feel the soft material of cotton underneath her hands. The warm fuzzy object above her had to be a blanket, so drawing from the information she had Candela assumed she was somewhere home. But was home ever this comfortable? 

And as if a coincidence, that’s when all of the memories came back, clearer than ever.

At first it was just the final moment. The frightened approach of Dragon Pulse as she could only stare in horror at her fate. The purple glow reflecting off of the walls as the attack came rushing for her, intent on taking her down without mercy. The shriek that tore through the air, whether it be Lapras or Candela herself, remained as the most terrifying memory of the event.

From there only more memories surfaced. The box she was carrying before the match, and the surprise meeting with Blanche. How different Blanche looked at the time and how stressed her own team was about winning the match. It all stockpiled on her, backing up the story behind the terrifying moments before she was taken out by an attack she should have been able to avoid. From deep underneath the covers, Candela choked out a sad noise of defeat.

The emotions racing through almost made her sick to her stomach again. The loss was already bad enough, but she had let her team down in a wholly different way now. Injured like this she would be unable to train or battle for about two weeks minimum, and they would never be able to make up for lost time if she kept loafing around in her bedroom as her team stumbled blind with no direction. 

Though as she rose her head and tried to gain a sense of her bearings, Candela came to the shocking conclusion. The room she was in, the cozy yet eerie space, was not her own. The furniture was modern and clean, but had nothing cluttering the top of them. No matter what she always had at least one planner open, and if not, she would most certainly have her laptop there. Neither object could be seen, projecting a feeling that was barren and lifeless. It looked more like a work station than a place to relax. The air carried a faint scent of lavender, something that struck a nerve as unfamiliar.

The walls weren’t much better. The colour was a dark blue shade, which in theory would look nicer in light. However, a second glance told her that there wasn’t one light source in the room at all. Besides for the bed, the desk, and a dresser to her left, the room was completely empty. You wouldn’t be able to convince one person that an individual resided her, so it most certainly wasn’t a suite at the professor’s hospital. She must have been moved to another room so that she could recuperate. 

With her vision unreliable for the time being, Candela forced herself to her feet, letting the too comfortable blanket fall from her shoulders and slump into a heap on the ground. Her bare feet met a single rug in the middle of the floor, almost invisible with how dark it was.

The first steps were agonizing to say the least, with her head screaming in aggravation at any movement. She braced her hands outward as she tried to both to get her balance and try not to fall, making her look quite a bit like a zombie. For a second she floundered blindly about, only to be relieved when her left hand finally met a wall she could hold onto. 

From there she guided herself along until she felt stable enough to let go and get a good look at her surroundings from where she had been latching on for dear life. There were two doors in the room, both to the right of the bed she was sleeping on. The closest one beckoned her forth, and her struggling feet were cooled by tile as she approached at an unhurried pace. 

The door pushed open with little resistance, and Candela found herself looking at her reflection. It was a wall mirror, clean and pristine, not failing to show Candela just what a mess she had become. Her mocha hair was tussled and disturbed by a set of bandages that wrapped around the back of her head. When she inspected further she found no blood, though it did seem to be protecting her from something. Seeing as how the last thing she could remember conscious was hitting the wall she wouldn’t be surprised if something was amiss.

Her normally healthy dark skin was bruised and scratched in multiple locations, though it was mainly her shoulders and arms. It hurt mentally to see herself look so damaged and hopeless, and she indirectly willed for her reflection to just fade away. She instead settled for just studying the room. It was nothing special, simply a sink, toilet, and shower, a model of a standard bathroom. It was nothing important, but something she didn’t want to be caught without, especially with how upset her stomach was.

With one room down, she painfully trekked down the small hall to the right of the previous door which gave way to the only other exit inside the room. The door itself looked well enforced, but there was no lock or peephole to be seen. When she grasped the knob and turned, she was disgruntled to find it wouldn’t budge. Locked.

So she was stranded in a stranger’s room now. How wonderful. Her eyelids drooped slightly in disappointment as she trudged back to the bed, which was beginning to look more and more inviting. All she wanted to do now was sleep for a year and never wake up.

Before she could lay down though, the sound of a lock could be heard to her right, and she wearily lifted her head only to hiss in the oncoming light occurring from the opposite end of the room. The only relief was the formed silhouette taking up the majority of the doorway. With absurd patience, the figure stepped into the room and closed the door behind them, the sound of some sort of locking mechanism ringing out once again.

“Ah, so finally you’re awake. I trust you slept well?” Candela squinted, trying to make out the shape and voice, but failing. Staggering, she reached a shaky hand out, which was met with the fabric of some sort of jacket. Two separate and much colder hands met her waist and turned her around, leading her back to the bed as she clutched onto the soft material.

“I doubt straying out of bed like that is good for your health. Come now, lets get you back and well rested for tomorrow. We have lots to do.” The slight inflection accommodating the lower pitched voice finally struck some familiarity from Candela.

“Is that you Blanche?“ Her voice cracked and her words were wheezed out with some difficulty, a product of her injuries and long sleep.

“Yes it’s me. You gave me quite a scare there Candela.” A blandly manicured hand brushed away the bangs from Candela’s forehead as the other leader sat Candela down on the pleasant bed.

Candela let loose a muffled chuckle, comfortable knowing she had Blanche here with her. “I never thought in my lifetime I would have to face a Pokemon attack head on.” Blanche seemed to find amusement in it, cracking a small smile. Her normally young and natural face reeked of exhaustion, with darkened lines present under her piercing eyes. For someone known to be dedicated to her work but fair to her body, it was a step back from the normal.

“You can say that again. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask how your head was doing. The doctors said the cushions on the walls should have shielded your head enough but they’re still counting you down for a concussion.”

“Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Candela laid back, letting her head fall onto the pillow beneath her with more force than necessary. Blanche seemed to want to caution her, but didn’t do much more than place her hands on her lap and stare down at Candela.

“I thought you’d react that way. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you here.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where are we anyways?” Candela gestured to the quaint little room, mindful of Blanche’s off putting smile.

“Oh yes, I do owe you an explanation. Well, I was planning on waiting for Professor Willow or an ambulance to come take care of you, but we were in the middle of no where and you looked to be in so much pain. It was too much to bear, and I knew I had to do something, and fast. In the end I settled on calling Willow to let him know what had happened and decided to bring you to one of Mystic’s headquarters. There happened to be one nearby with doctors inside, so it seemed like the best option. The professor agreed it was the best place to keep you while you recovered, so for the next week or more we’re going to be keeping you here.” It seemed convincing enough, and though Candela had many more questions, she didn’t want to bother Blanche, especially after putting the other leader through so much trouble.

“Mystic headquarters, I see. Thank you Blanche, I appreciate you going out of your way to do that for me.” Blanche beamed at her, and Candela returned the expression, her doubts washing away under the happiness displayed in front of her.

“I insist, it’s no trouble at all. I know you would do the same for me. We’re best friends, yes?”

The temptation to admit her worries and doubts weighed down on her mind like a stone, and she couldn’t help herself. “Yes of course. But I do want to confess something Blanche, from friend to friend,” She murmured, fingers laced together.

Blanche sauntered over and sat beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Yes?” 

“Before the battle earlier I was feeling bitter. I thought you didn’t care anymore and it didn’t help with all of the gyms being taken over. Simply put, I was really emotional at the time and I’m sorry for being cold at first. I thought you had changed,” Blanche titled her head, eyes slightly closed, “I just feel like an awful friend for doubting you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I understand. I was going through some changes, and you didn’t know how to react to it. But if it means anything, I forgive you.” Blanche leaned over and gently embraced her, letting a hand cup over the back of Candela’s head. The Valor team leader breathed in the scent of Blanche, familiar, yet obscured by a sterile scent that was hinted with death. She didn’t have time to ponder though, as Blanche pulled away, the smile still lighting up her face.

“Well, I best let you get some rest. You’ll need it in order to recover as best you can. Sorry about the empty room, but you shouldn’t be out and about anyways. I’ll check in on you as often as possible.”

“Thank you Blanche. Tell Spark and Willow I said hi, okay?”

Blanche paused. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Candela waved good-bye, watching the door close behind Blanche, shutting the room in darkness. With a sigh of defeat, she gently laid her head down on her pillow, pulling the blankets up to cover her shoulders.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day brought Blanche back again, carrying a plastic bag in the crook of her arm. She looked rejuvenated, far different from the day before, and it woke a bit of faith in Candela. The off putting and awkward gestures near the end had put her off a bit, but seeing her friend smile was all she needed to push her doubts away to the back of her head.

Blanche looked up and nodded hello, closing the door behind her. It shut with a tiny click, but Blanche still remained for a second, fumbling with something. When she turned around, the slight glimmer of silver could be seen, but Candela passed it off as Blanche simply being Blanche.

“Good morning Candela. Are you feeling better today?” Candela nodded and shifted her shoulders back, stretching her hands far above her head and groaning.

“Much better, thanks. It’s a bit bland here though.” She held out a hand and gestured to the room, full of furniture, but devoid of life.

“I know. Recovering from a concussion is never fun, but you’re not supposed to challenge your mind. Rest is essential to getting better.”

“Still boring,” Candela muttered.

“Don’t worry, I’m here to keep you entertained for a bit. It’s nothing special, but it’s what friends do.” Blanche walked around to the side of the bed Candela was sitting on, unloading the bag on the sheets and shifting through the elements of it.

Candela looked over Blanche’s shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of what was inside. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Ask me anything.” Candela was finally able to see and was relieved to recognize her signature jacket and Pokedex, all items that were most definitely from her bag.

“Did you ever end up taking my final gym?” Blanche turned to look at her, amusement dancing in her deep eyes.

“That’s up to you really. Once you were knocked out everyone flew into a panic, so the other battles either didn’t finish or didn’t even start to begin with. Hard to draw a conclusion from that.”

“Oh thank god. We need to have a rematch.”

Blanche snickered, “We will, don’t worry. But you shouldn’t even be focused on battling right now.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Stay here and sleep until September.” 

“Bit of an exaggeration. I’m sure you’ll be back on your feet soon.”

“Hopefully. If I may also ask, how’s Spark doing? He also must be very worried about me.” The smile finally left Blanche’s face, and the other leader’s hands paused from where they were folding Candela’s jacket. It only lasted for a few seconds before Blanche resumed, working slower than before.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. We haven’t spoken for a long time.”

Candela scrunched her nose. “I’m guessing you never did get to say hi.”

“Sadly no. He won’t talk to me as of late.” The declaration started to pull doubts back from deep inside Candela’s head. Spark was never one to ignore his friends, let alone cut them off when one had just been tragically injured.

There had to be more to the story. “Huh, that’s weird. Is he angry about the gym thing or something?”

“Probably something related to that.” She unloaded more clothing, but still failed to produce Candela’s Pokemon.

“Never saw Spark as the sore loser type. I mean, he wasn’t upset when I left to go to the gym that day. He was actually on your side come to think of it.”

Blanche let out a deep breath. “I believe he thinks your situation is my fault.”

“But you hit me by accident.”

“That’s what I keep saying, but he won’t believe me. Willow is the same. Both of them are blind fools.” Blanche’s eyes looked like sheering ice, and the calming atmosphere of the room dipped to below zero in seconds.

“Uh Blanche, you alright?” Candela shakily put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just upset that they won’t look at things from my side.”

“If you put me in contact with them, I can sort things out for you.”

“Oh no no. You need to stay here and get healthy. No distractions, remember?”

“I don’t have to leave the room though, just bring me a phone.”

“Maybe later,” Blanche stood up and reached into the bag, “You need to eat and get some rest. I brought you some fruit and yogurt, easy to digest and healthy for you.” Blanche reached into the plastic bag and retrieved the food items she had been listing, all while Candela bristled at the topic change. She was upset that they were all at war with each other, but being cut off completely because of Blanche’s mistakes was downright annoying.

“There’s also some clean clothes in there, and as you can see, those are all the belongings from your bag.”

“I did want to ask, where are my Pokemon?”

“All of them are safely stored and healed, well, at least Flareon is. She was the only one to fight after all.” Candela swallowed, still uncomfortable with the lack of information given on her own Pokemon.

“Can I see them later?”

“If your condition improves I’ll bring them over. For now, let’s work on recovering as soon as possible.” Blanche moved the now empty bags to the desk opposite the bed in the room, all while Candela stared, trying to understand the weird situation. Blanche looked the same in essence despite a few wardrobe changes, but deep down there had to be something wrong. For Candela, the constant switch between what she thought was old Blanche and this new, awkward rendition was starting to make her head spin. 

Too engrossed in her thoughts, Candela missed Blanche’s departure, only realizing long after she was gone that she had never been given her phone.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was hard to stay confused and aggravated at Blanche when the next day she strolled in carrying one of Candela’s Poké Balls, the signature red tape Candela used already visible from across the room. As if on cue, all of the bitterness in Candela evaporated, replaced with potent joy to have one of her old teammates back. Blanche caught sight of this and smiled to herself, nodding in greeting to Candela.

“Is that-”

“Yes it is. I want to show you something.” She beckoned Candela forth with two fingers, and with no complaint the Team Valor leader stood up from her cocoon of blankets to stand in front of her. Immediately the cool of the room sapped the remaining warmth, and as Blanche fiddled with something in her innermost coat pocket Candela rubbed her arms.

“So what’s so important. Is this going to be a magic trick or just a reunion?”

“You could call it both. I brought someone you’ll be happy to see.” She sealed the pocket shut, the sound of a zipper crying out. Her left hand was clenched in a fist holding something hidden from Candela, though the odd smell emitting did feel familiar. Her other hand which held the Poké Ball snapped up, releasing it into the air and cloaking the dark room with a flash of light.

The uncontrollable light twisted and turned under finally taking form of a grounded Pokemon. The outline eventually revealed the familiar shape of a Rhydon, and as soon as it began the light show vanished, leaving the gray Pokemon in its wake. The Poké Ball returned back to Blanche, who caught it with little trouble.

Candela could barely conceal her joy, and she rushed forward to hug her beloved Pokemon. The spiked Pokemon sluggishly looked up, but let out a happy cry upon noticing its trainer. They met in the middle of the room, mimicking an embrace one would share with someone had they not had a typhoon of spikes covering their body. It was clumsy but heart warming, and Candela felt the imaginary weight on her back be lifted from the brief intervention of her isolation. 

It didn’t last long too though, for after only a few moments of embracing Blanche was walking over, to interrupt with a brief greeting of her own directed at Rhyhorn. She caught the eye of Candela and gestured her head to the side, calling her up. “There’s been something I need to tell you Candela. I think you deserve to know, and I hope you will agree with me.”

Candela reluctantly let go of Rhydon, who whined at the loss of attention. “Okay, what is it?”

“You mentioned to me a few months back that you wanted to evolve this Rhyhorn, but were too busy to catch enough Rhyhorn to gain the candies to actually execute it,” Candela nodded, “Well, I have a solution for you, a solution me and my team have been working on for a long time.” 

Blanche walked around to her side, “Now, do you know how many candies it takes for a Rhyhorn to evolve?” She tested, her fingers rubbing together slightly.

“Easy, you need fifty. Wouldn’t be so big of a hurdle if you could actually find even a few.”

“Yes. Well here I have only ten. By normal evolution standards I would be able to do little. Maybe I could power it up, but that’s not what you wanted to do.” She revealed a few candies, the small orbs placed perfectly in the palm of her left hand. At the detection of the sickeningly sweet smell, Rhyhorn turned away from Candela and walked towards Blanche, pushing against her leg in an attempt to reach the addicting solution.

“Now watch closely, this is the fun part.” Blanche knelt down slightly, enough so that she could reach the domesticated Pokemon. Rhyhorn stared up with sharp eyes, still focused on the candies yet also slightly wary of the new trainer. When Blanche held out her hand Rhyhorn didn’t seem to hesitate and plucked the candies free, eating them one by one until Blanche’s hand was empty and picked free.

At first, nothing happened. Rhyhorn chewed down its meal as Blanche observed, not deterred by the anticlimactic ending to what Candela assumed was a huge scientific breakthrough. But almost as if to mock Candela, Rhyhorn suddenly let out a cry and the area around it beamed with a white light. The overwhelming brightness forced Candela to shield her eyes away, leaving her ears as the only witness to what was happening. 

It was a short process, and frankly, it sounded a lot like evolution. Rhyhorn’s little snorts were slowly muted until nothing could be heard. Shortly after, a sound which could only be compared to a bubble popping rang out through the air, and the ground trembled as something heavy landed right in front of Candela. When the last of the aftermath’s sparkles faded from view, only then did Candela remove her arm and look up at what was now overshadowing her.

It was a massive Rhydon, big enough to almost break through the ceiling. In astonishment, Candela stared, mouth wide open.

“How- How did you do that?”

Blanche laughed. “Science. The same science Willow and Spark have been rejecting all this time. I have it here though, and it works. And look, you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Oh and here’s the best part. Your new Rhydon is about fifty percent stronger than it would have been had it evolved naturally. You’ve essentially been given a better Pokemon.”

“Mhm..” Still absorbed by the shock, Candela found she couldn’t form any words. Her mind tried to make sense of the shortcut evolution method but any solution she came up with didn’t make sense. It was like Blanche had broken the laws of natural order to make this happen.

Rhydon breathed out some of the air, trembling slightly. It snapped Candela out of her scheming and prompted her to extend a hand to touch Rhydon’s newly improved scaly skin. Although when Rhydon looked down and saw the motion, it flew into a rage and roared at her, scaring her into jumping a few steps back and almost tripping over the bed. Pupils dilating, Rhydon’s innermost part of the mouth began absorbing light and preparing for an attack. Candela, frozen in fear, could only stand and watch her death approach, reliving the same terror she experienced with Lapras.

But just when she expected to be hit, a scream cried out through the air. The light shining down on Candela disappeared, and Rhydon’s enormous shape faded away into bleary colours. In seconds it vanished, revealing only Blanche, standing right behind where Rhydon had only been seconds earlier. She looked satisfied, even smug, Candela’s Poké Ball held tightly in her left hand.

“So, what do you think?”

“What do I think? What was that!? Why did Rhydon just prepare to attack me like that?” Blanche looked a bit taken back by Candela’s sudden bout of anger. Her silver eyebrows were furrowing as she returned the Poké Ball to the side of her belt.

“There have been some negative side effects, and I’m afraid it fell victim to one. It’s not too big of a deal.”

“What kinds of negative side effects,” Candela snapped, standing up from her position on the floor.

“It’s nothing to worry yourself with. Let’s focus on the fact that you now own a Pokemon much stronger than any other member on your team. Rhydon could take on any other Pokemon with ease and win without struggle.”

“I don’t care about Rhydon’s strength! I care about it as a Pokemon, as my lifelong friend. It was a docile Pokemon and it never attacked me, ever. What. Did. You. Do.”

“Well if you want the truth, there have been reports it reduces a Pokemon’s base happiness to negative, thus making the Pokemon much more aggressive. It’s either that or it can’t remember you because of the shock of what you would call 'forced' evolution. But in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't mean much. It's nothing to worry about so long as you don't get too close to the Pokemon like you did.” Candela whipped her head in Blanche’s direction.

“Nothing to worry about? What about the Pokemon! It’s probably suffering from such a catastrophic memory wipe in such a short amount of time. I’ve been this Rhydon’s trainer for months and we had something special. Whatever evolution method you used, it’s dangerous to the Pokemon’s mental state!”

“Maybe, but who cares about the mental state when you have a stronger Pokemon? Think about how we can improve our world with just a few minor changes.” Candela could only stare in disbelief as Blanche covered her mouth with her hand, her smiling obvious through the cracks in her fingers. It was obvious she was thinking pleasant thoughts, though they were none Candela wanted to be apart of. All at once the observations of how much Blanche had changed made sense, and the remaining good feelings associated with Blanche started to die off.

“I know you need to let this sink in, so I’ll leave you alone. Please think this over Candela. You’re seeing the future in its making.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After Blanche had left that day, Candela’s anger had only increased tenfold. Spark had given her little details here and there in the past to suggest that Blanche was working on something, but this was beyond her wildest imagination. Evolution was supposed to be beautiful and majestic, a sign of a bond reaching full potential. This stripped away everything that made evolution what it was, and Candela was done being lied to.

The locked doors, which normally were just a nuisance, now served as a reminder to her prisoner status. She didn’t believe Spark, she didn’t take it seriously or read into his warnings, and now she was here. All of Candela’s emotions were threatening to boil over all at once, and she knew for a fact it would not end well.

Blanche’s previously quiet interactions and pacifying conversations turned into something different overnight, and when she walked in the next day Candela was ready to lynch her. 

“Don’t get any ideas,” Candela spat, trying to stand only to be forced back down by the hand still resting on her forehead, “I can’t stay here any longer, I need to be there for Team Valor. They probably think I’m dead at this point.”

“I assure you, they don’t. And I believe that staying here is what’s best for the time being. Don’t try to get up, you’re not going anywhere for now.” Blanche’s voice was hardening and rising in volume in an attempt to subdue Candela. 

It did the opposite, and only made Candela’s fury grow, which she made known. “Get out of my way Blanche. If you think I’m going to stay here without a fight then you have clearly underestimated me.”

“Then take pride in knowing you’re under constant surveillance here. No one’s underestimating you, and I’m afraid that will be your own doom. Now hush, I have a proposition for you, and if you listen I swear it will be worth it.” Biting her lip, Candela reluctantly silenced herself, if only for her splitting headache growing with each venomous word she spat at what used to be one of her closest friends.

“You know my team specializes in evolution,” Blanche recited, “And now, we can trigger evolution early. A useless Magikarp that requires a massive exposure of about four hundred candies can now evolve with only twenty. Pokemon that have no evolution line have abilities that are boosted, and their Combat Power increases beyond what limits we tested. In the end, we are gifted with stronger Pokemon surpassing all odds and changing the Pokemon world as we know it.” A hand rested on Candela’s short locks of hair, grooming through it as Blanche spoke. The unnerving presence couldn’t be avoided, and with disdain, Candela froze in place.

Blanche didn’t seem to take notice of Candela’s discomfort though, and continued on. “When I breached this idea to Willow, he thought I was insane. He accused me of abusing the Pokemon and straining them both mentally and physically and demanded I stop at once, similar to how you did come to think of it. It hurt to see him refuse to look me in the eyes after I had achieved one of the most important milestones of my lifetime. It was then my loyalty to him began to crack. If he wouldn’t accept the ideals I presented, then I would show it to him by force. You and Spark just happened to be caught in the crossfire.”

“So you did this all for stupid revenge on Willow? I can’t believe your standards dipped so low,” Candela spat out, a growl sounding in the back of her throat in response to her rising anger.

“No, that was solely a bonus. I took the gyms he cherished and tore them apart brick by brick not to hurt him, but to show him and the world what we were willing to do in order to prove our point. I couldn’t let a crack form and allow an opportunity to be overthrown. Each gym was taken precisely when we needed to and fast enough with the Pokemon we had so that it remains a visual representation of our potential. Now that our power and precision has been demonstrated very few will be able to oppose us. We can finally teach our knowledge to others on a global scale, and we will shape the future without fear of any teams or certain professors trying to shut us down.”

“He’s trying to shut you down for a reason though, that’s what you don’t understand. You’re an idiot if you believe anyone out there is going to agree with your work Blanche, because you’ve discarded morals that even a child would be able to maintain. I stood up for you that night in light of our friendship, and I did it with good intentions. I couldn’t bear watching you and Willow bite at each others throats because of something that could be overlooked. Now that I’m here though, I’m upset I even bothered to comfort you. Had I known just how terrible your plan was, I would have just walked out the door, no questions asked.”

Candela slapped Blanche’s hand away and stood to her full height, towering over the much smaller Team Mystic leader, who was starting to look rather threatened. “This concept of evolution you believe in is not only immoral but hellish if you think about it. It’s like forcing a child to become an adult and take on adult responsibilities. Sooner or later, it’s all going to fall down on you. Your Pokemon will be worse off in the end than if they had simply evolved normally like the rest of us.” Blanche’s eyes darted from place to place, mouth slightly opened. She looked cornered, and to Candela it was a reassurance that Blanche wasn’t completely invincible. 

“There have been no side effects besides for what you witnessed and we’re working through it. You’re in denial, just like Willow, and I’m determined to break you free of it. Once you’re away from him I firmly believe you will be able to see things from my point of view, just like you did all those months ago,” Blanche responded, slamming her foot to the ground in objection.

“But I don’t see things the same way anymore! You can glorify this all you want and call it a rescue, but in truth this is an abduction. And you! You’ve become a monster Blanche, You’re willing to let your own Pokemon suffer just so that you can trump everyone and show off something that no one wants to see. You’re not someone to look up to, you’re someone to fear.” Candela’s rage hit a boiling point, and she couldn’t stop herself from rushing forward and throwing a punch at Blanche, hitting her square in the face. As the reality of the situation sunk in she felt her determination falter, and eventually crumble once Blanche looked up, a bruise forming on her upper cheek close to her eye. The look the other leader was giving her was so human that for a second she was fooled into believing this was her old friend again. 

But then Blanche bent over and picked up her cracked glasses, the glasses she never wore, and stood up abruptly, fists clenched. “Fine, have it your way. But I’m not giving up on you.” Blanche untangled herself from Candela, an air of disappointment clouding her aura. With a hurried pace, she took off in the direction of the door and slammed it harshly, letting the impact shake the room.

Only once Candela knew she was gone did she feel safe enough to tear up.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The punch she had given to Blanche yesterday put Candela into a new state of panic. She had tried to sleep it off and get over it, but her mind kept supplying with with plenty of punishments for acting on her impulses. There would no doubt be a consequence for physically attacking a future dictator with purposeful intent to hurt.

So when the door swung open the next day, Candela couldn’t prevent her hitch in breath. She didn’t fear Blanche herself, she just feared what Blanche’s power would entitle her to do. If she had no problem with forcing Pokemon to evolve, then she must not have a problem with doing something worse to her.

However, Blanche didn’t seem to think so. The other leader walked in slowly, then stopped. Candela held still for as long as possible, trying to give off the illusion of her sleeping so that Blanche would leave and come back later. By then she may have come up with either an escape or a suicide pact to get out before she could be punished.

For a while nothing happened, and Candela hoped the leader had left silently to go dawdle in her own business. But that turned out to not be the case, as seconds later a cold hand touched her shoulder gently, and in surprise Candela leaped up, barely missing knocking her head against Blanche’s.

“Candela! My apologies, I don’t know what got into me there. I’m sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday.” Candela couldn’t stop her wince upon seeing the remaining bruises from yesterday’s fight. The cut was no longer open, but the outer area was puffy and purple, reeking of pain.

If Blanche saw her flinch, she didn’t comment. With absolutely no fear she strolled closer to Candela and stood in front of her, hands behind her back. “I decided to make it up to you. Would you like to join me for a walk?” Candela squinted once the question reached her ears, almost believing to have misheard her. Did she say walk?

“Why on Earth would you want to go for a walk with me after I just punched you in the face.”

“Think of it like a trust exercise. I want you show you that you’re not really a prisoner here.” That line tore a bitter chuckle from Candela’s lips.

“Whatever fills your delusional mind,” She muttered, “Oh but wait, I thought I wasn’t supposed to leave this room because of my concussion.”

“Consider this an exception.”

“Don’t tell me you lied about that too, because so help me if you did.“

“No you definitely have a mild concussion, but it’s not as severe as you think it is. We took care of most of it while you were unconscious. I wanted to make sure you were alright though, and that’s why I kept you in here. It’s not sunny outside today, so a small walk won’t hurt you.” Without waiting for a response, Blanche turned and walked away, almost expecting Candela to follow like a lost creature.

For Candela, it was a matter of debating whether or not she wanted to be alone with Blanche. She almost declined, but the opportunity to be outside of the locked room for the first time since she got here was too much to pass up and she reluctantly stood, tugging on her jacket. Blanche looked rather pleased when she turned and found Candela there, which likely boosted her ego more than Candela would have liked. This was the first and last time she’d be listening to anything Blanche told her to do.

Regardless, she kept an emotionless facade on her face as Blanche jumbled with the keys to the door, easily opening it in a matter of seconds. Candela glared venomously at the door lock, furious with the constant denial of freedom. Oh wouldn’t it have been so easy to just tackle Blanche and take off. Her body seemed to agree, and tensed in preparation for conflict. At the last second she stopped though, having a feeling that hurting the Team Mystic leader any more would have serious repercussions.

Her instincts turned out to be right, for as soon as they walked outside of the door the two were met with a collection of Mystic trainers. All of them were wearing the same outfit, a grunt uniform. The more Candela stared at it, the more it reminded her of Team Rocket. So perfectly precise and terrifying to think of. 

The teams back at home were an equal effort, with no real control. Anyone was free to be anybody so long as they didn’t overstep their boundaries. This however, was taking the members and turning them into soldiers. The grunts in front of her were cardboard cutouts that could be morphed into fulfilling any role. It slowly started to sink into Candela that Blanche had seriously taken this too far, transforming her own team into a destructive force. And if the treatment of the gyms were anything to go by, this was just the beginning.

Candela felt faint, and she covered her forehead with her hand to try and orient herself. Not even Team Rocket could take over so many gyms in rapid succession. From the start Team Mystic had the manpower to do anything, and with no opposition they just as easily turned the tides. It would be impossible to disband them without two or more teams working together, and Spark was- 

No. Maybe that’s why she was here, to stop an allied force against Blanche. Spark was a threat and so was she, both controlling teams that would fight for the better cause. With no leader her team was helpless, a mess of people with no real direction. Perhaps Blanche was lying when she said this was all for friendship and conquest. This was a stifling operation to prevent her from ever getting any real power. The whole backstory of them ever being friends was just notable fluff.

And yet somehow throughout all of her darker thoughts, she managed to keep a straight face and keep walking. Blanche was talking about something, but she could care less. Her plans centred on escape. She had to get out of here before Blanche found Spark as well.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The balcony on the roof of the building was quiet and refreshing, but it still didn’t clear away the sickening feeling that bubbled in Candela’s stomach since she started putting the pieces together. Her mind was buzzing with questions, most of them surrounding the locations of Spark, Willow, and the other teams. She had seen the inside of Team Mystic, but not their actions. Were they using their Pokemon to steal from companies and raid warehouses, or were they waiting for the right chance to strike? 

Power could oh so easily corrupt a person, and Blanche stood as a perfect example. If she felt invincible, what was stopping her from setting those apartments across the road ahead on fire? The whole world was laid out so vulnerable, and without a threat to overcome Team Mystic could do whatever they wanted. The revelations sent another bout of cold through Candela.

Blanche didn’t seem to notice, and was more affixed on looking over the balcony’s edge at the grunts patrolling to and from the front of the building. The sidewalks weren’t clear of people, and most of them stared at the vague military setting of the headquarters building. The few cars that would drive by would sometimes slow down to get a closer look. Tension built as the scene progressed until Blanche finally sighed loudly and turned to look back at Candela.

She expected the cold leader to say something, maybe try to justify another action or two, but instead Blanche remained as shut off as ever. The awkward silence cloaked them like a veil, so unlike how they used to be before Blanche changed. There was never a time Candela was afraid to speak her mind to Blanche, but here they were, so close to each other yet so far.

Candela didn’t notice Blanche had lifted a hand until it was too late, and she looked up just in time to see it close to her shoulder. In a mixture of surprise and defence she jumped back.

“No, stop! Don’t touch me.” Candela slapped Blanche’s hand away and backed herself into the corner of the ledge. From underneath her the wind blew up, reminding her that one more step back and she’d fall over. Blanche in turn took a step forward, hands reaching out to try and grab her in case she tried anything.

“Candela, don’t be like this. I don’t want another argument. Come back over here before you get hurt!”

“What do you expect me to be like! Do you expect me to be happy for you, let alone support you? Did you think when you told me all of this I would look at you and say, ’Oh Blanche thank you kindly for keeping me prisoner here. Thanks a bunch old friend for screwing over any harmony the teams had for your own selfish desires. Thanks for becoming the new dictator of a potential terrorist organization that works to turn Pokemon into machines through evolution.’”

Judging by the violent seize of her shoulders, it hit the wrong nerves in Blanche, and finally the unruffled exterior began to break. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about this.”

“Probably because you never tell me anything! Everything you have told me has been a lie, or a substitute for the truth. I thought when you rescued me, you did it because you wanted to save me and couldn’t bear to watch me in pain. But no! I’m a tool for you to use, just like how all the Pokemon in your clutches are tools themselves. You don’t care about me, you just want me out of the way, and keeping me prisoner in a room I can’t escape from was your solution.” Candela gestured madly with her hands, trying to demonstrate just how tired she was with the whole situation.

“I do care about you Candela. I care so much that I risked everything to bring you here when I could have easily just let you suffer on that gym floor as you waited for goody two shoes Willow to bring his team of low lives to save you. I could have let you sit in the shadows only to watch your team slowly resent you like Spark and Willow, but I didn’t! I did this for you, for us. Think about it,” Blanche reached forth to take both of Candela’s clammy hands in her own, “Our teams, united. Mystic’s calm and calculating genius alongside the pure raw power and passion Team Valor wear on their sleeves. We’d be unstoppable. I’d let you have just as much authority as I have now. Just stop and imagine what we can accomplish.”

Candela let out a pained noise and covered her ears, shaking her head in distress. “For the last time Blanche, no! If you cared about me you would have let me go.”

Blanche stepped back, and pursed her lips. “I can’t do that.”

“But you just said you cared! If you did this all for me then you’d want to do what’s best for me, and what’s best for me is not here. Is it fair for me to be caged in like a rat?”

“You were sick, hurt. I didn’t mean to trap you in there, I just needed you to get better.” The use of need rather than want figuratively kicked Candela in the stomach.

“I have my doubts. I could guess that even if I wasn’t hurt I would still be in that room to begin with. So look at me Blanche,” She removed her hands from her head and put them on either side of the Team Mystic leader’s face, holding her steady, “Look at me and tell me honestly that you would have let me go if I wasn’t hurt. Tell me that I would be able to leave whenever I wanted to.”

Blanche blinked slowly, letting her eyebrows dip downwards. It spoke volumes.

“I knew it. I don’t mean anything to you. I’m just something to warp and control.” Candela turned away, unable to keep looking at her former friend.

In desperation Blanche moved in front of her, bending down so that she could look at Candela in the eyes. “You mean more to me than you will ever know. I couldn’t bear to watch you hate me from outside these walls. I wanted you to see what I see, and maybe try to come around to me. I knew if I let you go you’d run, even if I never hurt you, never threatened you. You would always return to Willow because he’s changed the way you think. That’s why I’m keeping you here.” 

Candela didn’t look convinced, so she continued. “Every concept is new and frightening at first, which is why it needs time to grow on you. I agree that it is inhumane to keep you here, but I’m doing it for a reason. I want you here with me Candela, and-“

“What you want is a mindless drone Blanche,” Candela opened her mouth to say more, but stopped, almost as if coming to a conclusion. “This conversation taught me a lot Blanche. A lot about you. I can see now that you’re too far gone to even see your flaws. There’s always an excuse, always a reason, but did you ever stop to think about how I would feel? I’m alone, my team is scattered, I can’t speak to my teacher or my best friend. I’m being told all this information about a new practice that sounds like it came right from Giovanni’s mouth, and I’m expected to sympathize with you? How about you sympathize with me for once.” Blanche looked away, forlorn. The chilling breeze sent her coat wavering in the breeze, shielding her from Candela’s wrathful gaze. One minute extended to three, and the two remained in silence, unable to think of what to say. 

In that time Candela’s anger had cooled until the Team Valor leader was completely burnt out. “Whatever. Just take me back to my room. Those dark lonely walls are more of a comfort than you are.”

Blanche looked up at her with a mix between frustration, anger, and sadness. It was almost if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t. To Candela, it didn’t matter. The woman in front of her had erased any instances of the old friend she knew and loved, and because of it there was no pity to be found for her condition.

When Blanche tried to walk beside her on the stairs back, Candela purposely fell back behind her.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The conversation was still fresh in Candela’s mind after what she assumed was a day or two after the incident. Blanche had become more distant than before, still bringing lunch and dinner but barely communicating. The odd time they did connect eyes there was still a glint of hope lighting up Blanche’s, which frightened Candela. Who knew what was going through her head at this point.

There was one thing she did know though, she wasn’t going to stay around and find out. Blanche wouldn’t stay silent forever, and would likely start changing methods if Candela kept rejecting her. She’d seen what Team Rocket had done to hostage situations in the past, and if Team Mystic would follow she wanted no part of it.

Overnight her mind frothed with ideas, using the information she had gained over the few days she had been there to plot. It was true that Blanche routinely brought lunch and dinner, but Candela had also noticed another grunt consistently visiting in-between the visits to check in and occasionally bring a change of fresh clothes. Unarmed and unaware, it would be the perfect opportunity to get out. The only issue was the constant surveillance Blanche had claimed to have. If Candela pulled anything funny, she would need to either give up or get out, and giving up would have terrible consequences. She stayed stuck on the options for a good portion of the night before finally giving in and starting to mentally prepare herself for what she would have to execute. 

The day passed in a blur from that point forward. Blanche came and left, still quiet and conformed. The hours dragged on as her stomach burned nervously. She ran through her plan over and over again, making sure everything added up. In theory it was the best she could come up with, but the threat of the future still loomed over her. She didn’t want to be a prisoner, but she also didn’t want to be dead, or worse.

But then the wait was finally over, signalled with the sound of the door clicking and creaking. It was eerily silent, even with the faint pitter patter of small footsteps behind her. Candela heaved herself up from under the covers and sat cross legged on the bed, squinting at a random grunt that had been assigned to check in on her. She was wearing the same blue outfit as the other grunts, her frizzy hair pulled tight into a bun. It was sophisticated, but unwelcoming. 

“Good morning ma’am. Just checking in for today. Blanche wanted me to ask if your head was feeling a bit better.” She held up a bag of clothes and what Candela assumed was bandages.

“Actually, I-I wanted to ask you about that. The back of my head feels off, like there’s a bump or something.”

“That’s not good. I’ll call Blanche right away.” She reached for her communicator, but Candela sprung up, her hand reaching out in protest.

“I only want someone to check and see first just to make sure. Maybe I’m just hallucinating. I don’t think it’s worth calling Blanche over a false emergency.”

Sure enough, like a Weedle to a starving Spearow the girl walked over, putting her items down on the bed sheets. Candela ducked her head forward, waiting until she was close enough to be in arms reach. When a pair of shiny boots came into sight, Candela finally made her move.

With a heave, she pulled the bedcovers that had previously been covering her body over the grunt and pushed her down onto the bed, fighting against the girl’s struggling. In desperation, she grabbed the girls waist and searched for the keys that should have been hanging off of her belt, trying her best to mute the screams coming out from the terrified girl’s mouth. For moments she grasped at nothing until her hand felt the cool material of what could only be metal.

Using pure force, she grabbed the jagged edge of the keys and yanked as hard as she could until the they pulled free from the holder on the belt. She also managed to break the phone the grunt had in her hands away from her grip, effectively disposing of the threat of attracting more grunts to her location. The girl attempted to swipe it back from underneath, but only managed to get tangled in the sheets even more. From there it only took a shove from Candela to toss her over the bed and flat on her face. An old part of Candela ached at the violence, but she silenced the moral voice in her head to focus on moving away from the threat of detection. 

As the grunt continued to struggle in the mess of blankets, Candela sprinted for the door, heart pounding. The keys jingled in her hand as she moved, the chime noise sounding like heaven to Candela’s ears. When she reached the door she messily sorted the keys, pulling free the sole silver key that Blanche used when she would come visit. The key entered the door without trouble, and a quick jerk to the side produced a click noise that signalled it unlocking. She stepped out of the room and got her first glimpse at release.

For now it seemed the discourse hadn’t been loud enough to attract any grunts to their location yet, as the halls were more barren than she could have ever imagined. However the illusion of serenity was quickly shattered once Candela heard the girl cry out from behind her, and she turned around to see her break free of her cloth prison and rush for the door. The danger of the situation kicked in, and Candela just managed to pull the door closed in time to keep her shut in. Without a second to lose, she used the same key as earlier to lock it, still hearing noises from the girl on other side as the she fruitlessly tried to twist the knob. The girl pounded on the door several times before realizing the situation at hand and giving up, releasing the door with an angry swear loud enough for Candela to hear.

With not a second to lose Candela took off in the opposite direction, mindful of any noises she heard. Down the hall to her right she could hear muffled laughs and what sounded to be high spirits, but the conversations were likely taking place in a room out of sight. Besides for that, the halls were scarily quiet, with only the sound of Candela’s now bare feet to greet them. Each second only served to increase the anxiety she was feeling as she held onto the hope that there had to be a way out.

She stumbled around the halls blind for a few minutes, still unable to find her way around. Every once in a while she had to stop and wait for a group of scientists to walk by, but luckily the interruptions were few and far between. As the adrenaline from the fight wore off Candela started feeling frustration prick at her skin. The doors she entered were either storage cabinets or useless meeting rooms and there were no signs telling her where to go. Even something as simple as a map of the building was no where in sight. It made her escape drag out, and very quickly the anticipation dried up. Was this really a good idea in the first place?

Just as she was starting to lose hope, help came in the form of a set of glass windows incasing the walls opposite a line of work lockers. Candela barely managed to hold back her sigh of relief, and wasted no time wandering over to the biggest one, placing right in the middle of the set. From outside rays of sunlight hit the surface, giving Candela the first feeling of genuine warmth since she had arrived here. 

The window itself was medium sized, big enough to climb out of though. Looking down, she found no wedge to open it, nor a lever or anything remotely close. She let a deep breath escape as she looked over her viable options. She could punch it and risk attracting attention, and even then there was no guarantee she would be able to get down. But with a glance down the conjoining hall, she decided she didn’t have time to look for a better option. It was a risk worth taking.

But before she could even lift a finger, the noise of fleeting boots sounded behind her, and she briskly turned to see a young man turn the corner she had come from. His accusing stare bore holes through her, and she momentarily froze in distress. Upon seeing her, he too froze to the spot, brows furrowed and mouth slightly opened.

“You! Who gave you permission to leave your room?” He pointed a finger at her, his squeaky voice loud enough to be heard from down the hall. Candela at first only blinked, trying to assess the situation and find a way out. Should she run down the hall and try to make a break for it? She almost acted on the impulse until her hand met the window again, and she stopped to reconsider. No, this was her only chance. She had to fight.

The grunt, after hearing no response, stalked forward to drag her back to the room. Candela moved backwards letting her back hit the wall before she bent her knees and braced herself for a fight. When he went to grab her arm she slapped him hard over the face, kneeing him directly in the stomach and hearing the satisfactory groan that came from it. His gloved fingers dug into her arms as he tried to yank her back, and in protest her nails met his check, desperately trying to break free of his grasp.

She gave it everything she had and used every dirty trick in the book, going for any opportunity to blindside him. By the time the two had separated from the whirlwind of jabs and punches, the grunt’s face was scarred with scratches and was a crimson red. She wasn’t any better, and without looking could tell she had several open wounds on her back and calves.

Even after taking the worst Candela had to offer, the man was still standing, and Candela found she had no choice but to try and get around him so that she could reach the window. By now he had figured out what she was trying to do and was guarding the escape with his life until presumably back up arrived. 

Lost in thought, she failed to see him sneak close until he hit her with a dirty punch to the ribs. It caught her badly, and she coughed out hoarsely, bending inwards to alleviate the worst of it. While she was distracted, he tugged at her hair and dragged her along, trying his best to work with her stubbornness and kicking. In a last ditch effort to break free, Candela turned her body clockwise in his hold and kicked him as hard as she could in the shin. 

It was enough to bring him to his knees, and all Candela had to do then was elbow him in the back of the head harshly to subdue him. He fell limp, groaning out in pain.

With the grunt finally taken care of, Candela limped in the direction of the window, finding herself in the same situation as earlier but with much less time. With no way to open the window and nothing else she could think of, Candela braced herself, formed a fist, and aimed straight for the middle of window.

Her hand went right through, shattering the glass on impact. Pain seared her hand, and she could feel the individual shards nestle themselves in her skin. She tried her best to muffle the worst of it by biting down on the collar of her jacket, but even then she couldn’t hide the shrieking moans that escaped. As if on cue her head began pounding again, warning her of the physical strain she was going through.

But despite it all, the window was open, and the first breath of fresh air she took could never be compared to anything else. From there it was easy to pry the remaining shards out of the way until a decently sized hole was made and she could climb through. 

“Hello? Is everyone okay over there?” The sudden breach of another voice informed her that it was too late to stop and reconsider. Candela stuffed the female grunt’s phone in the miniature pocket on her jacket, and climbed over the thin ledge that separated the inside of the headquarters from the outside. The slightest breeze could be felt, and Candela got her first glance at what was below.

From the window’s height, it was only a short way down. If she had been where she was a few days earlier it would have been a death sentence to fall, but there was a decent chance of getting out with little to no injuries here. The grassy ground of the garden down below blurred in and out of focus as Candela slowly but patiently dipped her body over the edge, hanging on for dear life with her hands. She was mindful of the increasing volume of the voices inside, though it only made the pressure increase tenfold. Once they saw the broken window, it would be all over.

There was a split second of nothing until finally she let go, feeling the air brush past her as she tucked her arms around her head to protect herself. Her knees instinctively bent to break her fall, and to try to alleviate the tension she imagined she was just jumping off of Pidgeot after a long day of training. Everything was fine, everything was good. She was going to get down and see her beloved team again, with no fear of Blanche trying to nab her from sight.

The bit of relaxation helped, but it still didn’t make the landing feel good. Even with all the caution she took her ankles did buckle and she was barely able to see properly. Her body rolled to her side on impact to protect itself, and though her side did feel unpleasant, she didn’t feel any broken bones besides for what definitely was a sprained ankle or possibly worse. It would take the grunts a minute or so to put two and two together from the boy she had knocked out, and those safe sixty seconds pushed her forward more than anything else. 

Painfully, she clambered to her feet and then broke into the most convincing sprint possible, which was more of a sluggish walk. The building’s back consisted of well tended to gardens blooming with blue flowers accompanied by the flags of Team Mystic. Overall, very aesthetically pleasing, though now it functioned to serve a double purpose as a way to keep hidden. The tall grasses and cars obscured the view from the front, and unless grunts were looking out of the windows on a higher floor they would never catch sight of her. All she had to do was make it across the road ahead of her and she would be safe.

It was easier said than done when her body’s injuries finally starting to take a toll on her. Candela’s ears burned and her back felt searing hot from the earlier encounter. Meanwhile, her sprained ankles protested with each step she took, and it occasionally caused her to fall down. The only thing keeping her going now was the threat of what would happen to her if she failed. 

One foot in front of the other she told herself. The road was inching closer at a snail’s pace, but she healed her frustrations with self encouragement. By now the background audio consisted of several loud speakers, some of which were definitely coming from the front of the building. Candela desperately pushed her body to its limit, clutching her shoulder whilst trying to hold her lunch in. Liberation was so close.

By the time she had reached the road she was about to pass out. Little traffic thankfully gave her a break, and she sluggishly persisted onwards, feeling her now bare feet sear against the hot pavement. Above, her head pounded from being in direct sunlight, clearly an aftermath of her head injury. It was like a supernova of pain, all piling up on the exhausted Candela who couldn’t risk passing out in the middle of the road.

But then, the dark of the alley sliced through it all and drowned Candela with relief. Reaching the end and being able to hide in the shade of the alley was nothing short of overwhelming. For one, she could finally sit down and recollect her thoughts, and now she wouldn’t need to keep looking over her shoulder for Blanche’s grunts. In retrospect, it was likely one of the most triumphant moments of her life, though she still couldn’t wrap her head around what she had just gone through.

Now that she wasn’t being constantly watched by Blanche, it was like everything she experienced was a daydream. It didn’t feel like it had ever happened, but deep inside Candela knew what she had experienced was as real and impacting as the headache she had at the moment. Blanche had told her things she would have never told anyone else, and had practically slipped her plan for domination using her methods. Candela was a damning piece of evidence against what Blanche would do, and she wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip through her hands.

Once she was sure she could breath without throwing up, she slipped a hand into her worn jacket’s pocket and retrieved the small flip phone that had miraculously managed to stay inside despite all that had happened. Appearance wise, it looked like a dumbed down version of the Pokedex, but even despite it looking stupider than a Mr. Mime on roller skates Candela was thankful for its presence. 

It took a few tries to correctly dial a number, and by the time she had managed to call Willow she found her hopes to be in vain as he wasn’t answering his phone. Every attempt the phone made to put her on voicemail further damned her existence, and in exasperation Candela laid back against the brick wall of the apartment compound. She was a goner.

But then she remembered her second option. It was a small spark of hope, but it was there, and it was also her last shot. Breathlessly, Candela shakily dialled the code for Spark’s phone, praying that he would find the hospitality to pick up and answer her prayers. The phone rang one, twice, and again, each instance shattering the remaining hopes that Candela had. 

But then, as if a saving grace had blessed her, the phone’s background noise projected static and a rough voice cut through the silence.

“Hello?”

“Spark, it’s me, Candela.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes : Well that certainly took longer than expected to write! Thank you again everyone for being so patient. For any future stories or chapters, I’ll be posting how much I have completed on my Bio.  
> I'm thinking of writing one more chapter, but I'm not sure. Do you guys think I should end it here, or continue?


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can’t believe I got this far! Sorry I took so long to update guys. As my apology I'm posting two chapters today and tomorrow. They were originally supposed to be one chapter but it alone was longer than the other chapters combined so I wanted a bit of a break between them. [That’s probably why it took so long to write come to think of it.]  
> I'm posting this at 3am so lets pray there's not too many spelling errors.

Tasting food that actually had flavour and spices was probably one of the biggest reliefs for Candela. That, and finally making it back home after one of the most terrifying ordeals of her life. 

 

Spark was sitting across from her, his worn face intently watching her stir the steaming soup with fascination. He had been oddly patient, not questioning her when he found her barely conscious and sandwiches between two lower income apartments. He brought her home without another word, almost as if he sensed just how damaging the whole experience was and didn’t feel qualified to probe.

 

The problem was Candela actually _wanted_ to talk about it. She wanted to break out screaming and tell him the horrible things she learned and saw. The memory of Blanche’s controlling and maleficent eyes still bore into her soul and until she got it out there would be no relief. Unfortunately, her voice betrayed her and she couldn’t bring herself to make a word. How could she even begin to teach Spark about what Team Mystic were up to? She would have no idea where to even begin.

 

Sure, she hadn’t actually seen too many bad things. In the end she was lucky Blanche shielded her from the worst. A dark and smothered part of Candela did want to see it though, just so the illusion of what was to come would be clear. A bitter truth spat in her face was preferable to the spoon fed lies that Blanche had tried to sweeten for her to cause the least amount of damage possible.

 

It was all so unfair. 

 

Candela didn’t realize her hand was shaking until Spark put his hand over hers and steadied it, resting in on the polished surface of the table. His eyes reeked of concern and Candela’s mind began provoking her to get out and say it. Spark deserved to know the truth.

 

“Something is bothering you.”

 

“My whole mind is boggled honestly. There’s so many things I want to say but can’t.”

 

“Take your time. I didn’t want to question you earlier because you looked a bit shell shocked.”

 

Candela buried her face in her hands. “It’s Blanche. It’s all Blanche.”

 

“I had a feeling. That was something I wanted to talk to you about once you got back on your feet.”

 

“If you mean to inform me of what she’s doing you don’t have to, I’ve already been eased in. Team Mystic has gone mad with her at the helm of the ship, and I can see they’re only going to get worse with time.”

 

“Yeah, things got bad after you disappeared. I ran to go find you once I had heard there was an accident at the gym, but the whole area was cleared and declared Mystic territory before I had even set foot on the property. With how cruel she’s been lately I assumed the worst,” He squeezed her hand slightly, releasing a deep breath of relief, “I couldn’t tell you how happy I was to hear your voice on the end of the line.”

 

Candela gave him a sincere smile, “Just hearing you pick up was the best part of my week. You won’t believe what I went through.”

 

“What, did some Mystics ambush you?”

 

“Not exactly. Blanche had taken me captive to try and, for lack of a better word, seduce me over to her side. She tried everything and wouldn’t give me a moment to process what the heck was going on. It was a cluster of bad ideas and horrible truths all being showered on me at once. But the worst part was figuring out what she had done to her team, and worse, the Pokemon on it.”

 

“Forced evolution, we know.”

 

“It was awful. She had confiscated my Pokemon and made one of them evolve. I can’t explain it, but the look in its eyes when it saw me and the split second before it attacked was too much to handle. Rhydon lunged at me like I was the enemy and not the woman in front of him that had put him through the experience. And what worsened the blow was that the Rhyhorn was a companion on my team for a good few months. I watched all of those memories I had made with it erase before my very eyes.” Spark nodded sympathetically as Candela jammed her spoon into her soup, letting some of the liquid splash over the sides of the bowl.

 

“But the worst part was that she didn’t even care. She was proud of doing that to it and she expected me to feel the same. She’s an empty shell; something has snapped in her and she’s gone mad.”

 

“It’s been no easier on our end. Only a day after you vanished Team Mystic started going after minor businesses for agriculture and potions. We at first thought the incidents were isolated, but they only continued until they were going after trainers. With no one else to back us up we had to retreat back and think of a plan. The teams ended up scrambling after the massive chaos and for now we’re keeping quiet so Blanche can’t find us.”

 

“Do you think she’ll come after us?”

 

“Can’t say for sure. That woman’s a mystery these days. She still won’t call or answer, and trying to get answers from grunts leaves you with a push to the sidewalk or worse. They walk around like they own the place.”

 

“You think they would sense how stupid their plan is and stop. They’re human and they have had bonds with their Pokemon. For them to abandon it all to Blanche doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“She’s a manipulator Candela. You’ve known that since we first met. She appeals to what you want to hear and want to see and uses it to help herself. In fact, to her team it’s almost too good to be true. Her Pokemon are so strong, but they suffer from bouts of rage and unhappiness. Her team is rotting from the inside. She’s going to fall sometime, but until then we need to hold her off. You’re our last hope.”

 

“Last hope?” She croaked out, massaging her aching temples with her other hand.

 

He smiled, shuffling closer. “Let’s call the teams back together and put an end to this. Think of it as nipping the problem in the bud.”

 

“Let’s get permission first Spark before we go dunking the province in fear,” Candela chided, raising the spoon to her lips and sipping her early dinner with dull amusement. 

 

She forced herself to hide the nervousness bubbling inside at the thought of having to look at Blanche in the eyes ever again.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

The nights that followed the escape were cold, daunting, and nothing but empty promises. Spark and essentially Willow had reassured her that once she got some shut eye she would start forgetting the ordeal and move on, but the problem was she was absolutely unable to even lay down for more than a few minutes without growing so bored that she had to get up. Rest would not come to her unless it was her passing out mid day on the couch while Spark hatched his eggs. As a result, her body suffered and she fell back on her training.

 

She instead spent the long hours of the night researching news articles and putting herself to good use. It was obvious something had gone on in the week or so that she had been out, but it was up to her to find out what. Spark was helpful and patient, but his unwillingness to fill her in on the important details made her slightly frustrated.

 

Several articles criticized the direction Team Mystic had taken, others outright declared them a terrorist organization. A few stray titles found fascination in the idea but disliked the execution. All of it danced around Candela, mocking her and her lack of understanding. Both her name and Spark’s came up several times but were never directly related to the problem, though one did question the whereabouts of the both of them.

 

It didn’t take someone as qualified as a doctor to realize that the teams had been shaken up and were beyond return at this point. Team Valor had been reduced to nothing while she was gone, and Instinct was pretty much the same. If they were ever going to shape up to take on Mystic it was going to be a work in progress for quite some time.

 

Her head started aching in protest of all the concentrated ideas she was filling it with. Ever since recovering from her concussion she had been plagued with multiple blaring headaches and it made any sort of activity or brainstorming a chore. She hated being handicapped and tried to hide it as best she could from Spark, to little effectiveness.

 

With how bad it was getting she opted to try and find some medicine to take to null the worst of it, but she wasn’t sure if Spark had any. She certainly didn’t see anything when she was scouting out the kitchen earlier. 

 

It put her in a bad situation that she wanted to get out of. Blanche had always made sure to leave tablets when she delivered food and Candela hated to say that she had grown dependant on them. Now that she was forcefully taken off of them she felt weaker than ever before and it made her skin crawl.

 

She glanced at the clock, seeing the bright digital numbers illuminate the room. Even at one in the morning there had to be some kind of pharmacy open in the plaza. Heading over there seemed like a much better option than remaining here and trying to cope.

 

Candela rested her head in her hands, lightly tapping her forehead with her fingertips. She had only been out for a few days and was very vulnerable without her strongest Pokemon on hand. But the temptation of relief outweighed the possible dangers. She could defend herself, and she’d have her phone on hand. It would be no different from common night raids she would participate in.

 

With her mind made up it didn’t take her long to scour the room she was using for her belongings. She stuffed a wad of cash in the front pocket of her bag and stored in the main pocket a set of six Poké Balls containing her best Pokemon currently on hand. Teammates like Kabutops and Seadra were nothing compared to the offensive titans she used for battles like Flareon or Arcanine, but they would get the job done if she ran into trouble. Besides, just having a back up plan made her feel much safer.

 

She swung the bag over her shoulder and slipped on her comfortable combat boots which were neatly in place by the door. The whole house remained quiet with no indication of Spark being awake or active enough to catch her walking out and she hoped to keep it that way. He had warned her about going out or getting into contact with anyone from Team Mystic during the time of her recovery and though it did put restrictions on when she had time to go out she couldn’t really blame him. Had she not been desperate to get out she wouldn’t even consider the idea in the first place.

 

She snatched the keys to Spark’s house off of the end table of her bed and exited the room, closing the door behind her with avid care so that she wouldn’t wake the other. Spark’s door was closed but if she listened closely she could hear the obnoxious snores coming from inside the bright walls. If she could hear him he could definitely hear her. The wooden floor tiles creaked as she walked on them, betraying her plan with each step. It wasn’t as though she was doing anything bad, but she’d rather not have Spark find out after what they had both been through. 

 

Using the keys she had grabbed she unlocked the front door and stepped outside, embracing the magnificent night skies and sound of Gastly in the distance. If she closed her eyes and wiped her thoughts she could imagine she was back a few months ago before the drama, simply enjoying a nice night walk. Back then she didn’t have to wonder what Spark thought of her or fear for her safety simply because Blanche wasn’t on the radar.

 

Before she came dangerously close to letting the guilt of it all sink in she locked the door to the house and stuffed the keys into her back pocket whilst being careful to not make too much noise.

 

It was a cold night, but she thankfully had her hoodie on to block out the worst of it. Her heeled boots clicked and clacked against the pebbles littering the way, echoing in the abyss of quietness. Every house on the block had the lights out and the blinds drawn save for Spark’s house, which made it so much darker and harder to see. On the bright side, it did seem to attract small hoards of Zubat and Drowzee. If she squinted she could dimly recognize the yellow hide of the latter behind the hedges of a house to her right. 

 

The thoughts centring on Pokemon distracted her from both her literal and figurative headache caused by the drama. She spent the majority of the walk counting how many familiar tunes could be heard by singing Jigglypuffs and the many glowing Metapod cocoons hanging from the branches of oak trees on the end of the street. The whole neighbourhood was enveloped in a sense of calm, even with the different species of Pokemon scurrying about. It was very much unlike Candela’s own neighbourhood, which was tucked deep into the city and plagued with noise and life.

 

From the end of the street it was only a ten minute walk to reach a store plaza that likely had some sort of convenience store. On the way there Candela saw no one and she in turn kept a low cover by tucking her face under the hood of her sweater. The path underneath her feet wove in and out of the populated streets and recreational parks until finally it traversed through a small park and reached a brightly light section of the town.

 

Just from where she was standing Candela could see one or two cars near the convenience store (which was thankfully open) and quite a few more parked up close to the small cinema. The bank, barber shop, and several restaurants were pitch black with only the glowing bolded letters of their respective names to reveal what resided there. Under the shadow of moonlight the plaza looked nothing like its former daylit self, which normally had cars practically overspilling the parking boundaries and curbs.

 

Candela hopped over the edge of the sidewalk and started towards the store. The glaring radiance from the sign above painted her a sickly green, though the majority of the light was blocked out because of her hood. She changed the shoulder her bag was resting on and tugged on the handle of the glass door to enter.

 

 When she walked inside the shop greeted her with a sweet chime that brought attention to the woman at the register. Though she did focus on Candela for longer than an average person would Candela simply assumed it had to do with her wearing a hood rather than her actual identity. 

 

Out of respect, she tugged the hood off with her sleeved hand and shook her head to move the brown locks out of her face. The clerk did noticeably calm down because of it and she turned back to observing the only other person inside the shop, an older man looking through the collection of magazines at the back of the store. Candela ignored both of them and walked down the short aisles to find the medicine shelves tucked away from any windows or entrances. 

 

Her eyes hurt because of the bright lighting of the store but she tried to push through it and find the right medicine she was looking for. There were aliments for common colds and a massive collection of over-the-counter drugs clouding the glass shelving. It made sorting through it all a chore, but after a few minutes of observing she finally singled out the rectangle case of mild headache tablets.

 

She reached forward and took one of the containers off of the stacked pile, turning it over to rapidly read what was on the back. Obviously it wasn’t the best solution to the problem, but it was a good band-aid to dampen the worst of the effects. Her mind made up, she walked away from the clean shelves and headed to the counter where the half asleep employee was working.

 

The woman groggily turned to scan the box on the counter as Candela patiently waited from behind the counter. The silence between them was breached by the loud and alarming presence of the door chime as presumably another person entered the shop. Candela didn’t bother looking to see who and handed over a twenty dollar bill to pay. The cashier took the offered bill and punched in the amount given. Over the sound of footsteps behind them the woman sorted noisily through the coins of the machine as she tried to collect the due change.

 

Candela reached over and took the box of headache meds, declining the offer of a bag. The cashier collected a combination of coins and a bill and held her hand out to deliver it to Candela. She accepted and stuffed it down the front of one of her pockets, thanking the cashier for her time. The other nodded politely and turned to service the person waiting in line behind her.

 

As Candela was walking out a hand unexpectedly grabbed her shoulder. Assuming it was the clerk giving her something she had forgotten she turned with a kind smile on her face only to freeze and drop the smile as she met face to face with someone that definitely wasn’t the cashier. 

 

It was another woman, though visibly different. Her skin complexion and emerald eyes were far different in comparison to the woman she was just talking to. However the most startling difference was the outfit she was wearing, which was sporting the Team Mystic symbol. It was stitched onto the sides of her aquamarine jacket and just seeing it squeezed the breath out of Candela. All of the fears she had dismissed to come this far resurfaced and kicked her in the gut.

 

“Hey, you’re Candela from Valor aren’t you?” She asked, eyes betraying none of her intentions. Behind her were three more of her teammates casting suspicious looks. One of them was holding a phone which he looked tempted to use.

 

“U-Um..” Candela turned to look at the woman behind the counter for support, though the woman in question looked to be avoiding eye contact. When she turned back to the grunt grabbing her the look remained. It bore holes in her and made the headaches come back stronger than ever.

 

“I-I’m sorry, I’m afraid I have no business speaking with you, goodnight.” She jerked her shoulder up to loosen the grip the trainer had on her and took off in the opposite direction. Without bothering to look and see if she was being followed Candela stalked on, opening the door to the stop and racing out of there as fast as she could. For protection she slung her bag forward and pulled out Kabutops’ Poké Ball, holding it with an iron grip. 

 

Only once the darkness of the parking lot consumed Candela did she turn to look back. No one was there, though from past the glass of the store a pigment of blue could be sighted. It was headed for the door and the sight of it kicked up her instincts to get away or fight. The loss of confidence confirmed by having none of her strongest Pokemon on hand made the second option unusable, so without stopping to catch her breath Candela ran for the stone path feeding back into the neighbourhood.

 

She ran until her lungs practically gave out and even then persisted. Her legs felt like jello and each breath was torture but she didn’t stop running for fear of her safety. The recurring headache punished each agonizing step she took until she was a couple blocks away from where she had run into the group of Mystics. Only then did she slow down and wheeze for breath.

 

The encounter had drained her of any sort of spirit, leaving her an empty shell. Her body screamed as she continued on the pebbled path, her only motivation being to get home and get to bed. She ignored the Pokemon on the way there and blocked out the sounds that had calmed her before. Reaching the house hailed no achievement and she barely celebrated the thought of finally being safe.

 

She should have listened to Spark.

 

Being weaned off of the adrenaline that night was the kick that finally got Candela a decent sleep. She practically collapsed in her bed after trudging down the hall, still heaving as she tried to breathe properly. All of a sudden those warnings Spark had chided her about made so much sense. The town was oozing with Mystic and like worker bees they would report back to the hive, which Candela dreaded.

 

For a long time nothing happened, just the sounds of Paras scuttling around in the gardens outside to occupy her thoughts. Candela didn’t even notice she was dozing off until her eyes snapped open to the sound of a loud Pidgey chirping its lovely song into the glow of the new morning.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The next morning went pretty smoothly. Spark didn’t seem to think anything of the exhausted Candela and it appeared he had no knowledge of her leaving that night. Had she not been so paranoid about him finding out about it she could have honestly said it was like any other morning. However she knew better, and just thinking about the expressions of the one grunt was enough to send a fresh wave of fear down her spine.

 

She should have listened to Spark. Now they knew she was out and about and would without a doubt tell Blanche. Candela knew she wouldn’t be strong enough to take Blanche on again after all that had conspired between the two of them, and the possibility of it terrified her.

 

The only reassurance was seeing Spark’s happy go lucky smile and utter calm surrounding the entire problem. Not once did he bring up the chance of seeing Blanche and had done his best to cut off all communications. The blinds for the windows were always drawn and he was quick to take care of her whenever she showed signs of panic. By this point Spark was her only lifeline seeing as how Willow wasn’t too engaged with them.

 

Speaking of which, the latter hadn’t visited once. The last time she’d seen their mentor was about a month ago before she had gotten captured and even then he looked pretty dishevelled. It couldn’t be that he was upset at her for what had happened, right? 

 

She decided to try and see what Spark thought of it.

 

“Hey Spark,” Candela mumbled around the toast Spark had fetched her, “Can I ask you something?”

 

The other poked his head out from the kitchen cabinet, balancing a plate with another slice of toast and eggs in one hand and a butter knife in the other. “Sure thing Candela! Fire away.”

 

“Does Willow blame me for what happened?” She asked, voice lowering in the volume near the end of her question. Spark whipped his head in her direction, eyebrows furrowing.

 

“You? Nah! Why would he blame you?”

 

“I was the one that got us into this mess by encouraging Blanche. And maybe I’m just paranoid but it doesn’t seem like he cares a lot about me.” Spark sat down next to her, dipping his knife in the butter laid out in front of her.

 

“Don’t be silly, of course he cares! He’s just very busy with the whole Blanche problem going on right now. I think deep down he’s really worried about her, but I can’t say for sure honestly. The pressure on his shoulders from the public and the teams combined must be drowning him and so I don’t blame him for staying away from us for a few weeks,” Spark continued as he buttered his toast with long strokes. Candela looked at him briefly before turning to her own measly breakfast, squinting.

 

“He’s pretty angry at Blanche, isn’t he.” Spark stopped adjusting his plate and looked up at her.

 

“Well yeah, of course. I would think most people are,” He turned back to his plate and cut open the centre of his eggs to reveal the yolk, “She has no excuse to just let her team run rampant. Their competition with you guys was bad enough without them using their super mega awesome Pokemon to strike fear into whoever challenged them. She needs to step up. Oh and don’t get me started on the whole evolution thing- that was crazy.” He shoved a piece of egg into his mouth and chewed.

 

“Yeah, that was pretty out there.”

 

“What about you, aren’t you angry?”

 

Candela opened her mouth, intent on confirming him. She then found that it was a lot harder to spit out what she intended to say. “I’m not sure if angry is the right word. Maybe disappointed. I just-“ She poked at her slice of toast, still not cooking up much of an appetite, “I’m confused. I know Blanche is notorious for being the smart one that figures out people but I feel like all those years spent by her side has rubbed off on me. There’s so many questions I have and very few answers to help me understand.” Spark nodded sympathetically and patted her back, rubbing comforting circles.

 

“Don’t fret Candela, we’ll get this all sorted out. You just sit tight and be patient.” Spark rapidly ate the rest of his meal, careful to catch the rest of the breadcrumbs off of his lips with his tongue. He looked down at Candela for a split second and hesitated before taking her plate, “You’re not hungry, are ya?” Candela shook her head no as he stacked her plate on his.

 

The toast helped but it wasn’t much. Candela was still suffering from her bothersome headaches and the added annoyance of little sleep didn’t help. She patted her cheeks lightly to try and refocus herself but only served to make it worse. It elicited a miserable groan that made Spark call out something positive which she playfully ignored.

 

The sound of dishes clacking against each other could be heard as Spark meticulously put away the cutlery and plates he had brought out. The man had been nothing but giving since she had arrived and though she hadn’t been able to demonstrate it properly she was so thankful. Spark was probably the only good friend she had at this point and the fact that he went out of his way to take care of her when she could be left alone at her own house showed a lot about his personality.

 

“Okay, the dishes are put away so now we can-“ Just as soon as he has emerged the blaring noise of the home line phone sounded from across the room. Spark shot Candela a look of apology and then scurried away to pick it up. 

 

Candela didn’t wait to see him answer and walked into the kitchen, intent on getting something to drink to wash down the gritty texture of the toast she had eaten. She opened the fridge door carefully and was quick to pick up one of the juice cartons that fell the moment the doors budged. The entire area was choked full of weird foods and concoctions of all kinds, leaving her with a lot of options to sort through.

 

The phone finally stopped ringing and the sound of it being removed from the holder could be heard. “Hello this is Spark speaking, how may I help you?” Candela thought nothing of it and continued to sort through the fridge, trying to locate the orange juice. From the counter Spark’s Pikachu looked up from its meal and let out a tiny squeak when it saw the treats inside the open fridge doors. Candela fixed it with a teasing smile, wiggling her finger when it jumped down and tried to climb up her leg to reach. 

 

“Why have you called?”

 

Spark stopped, then exhaled loudly. “No, she’s not here. I thought she was with you.” The deepening tone of his voice caught Candela’s attention. She put back the milk she had in her hand and glanced over the edge of the fridge.

 

Across the room Spark was standing rigidly up against the couch, though his posture spoke volumes about the feelings he was currently experiencing. “No she’s not here. I don’t know where she is and neither does Willow. Stop asking me about things I have no knowledge on.” A terrible sinking feeling started to breed in Candela’s stomach again, and goosebumps formed on the skin of her arms when Spark took in another deep breath.

 

“Oh they saw her? Great. I don’t see how that has any correlation to me.” Spark turned around to meet Candela’s eyes, though he looked more confused than anything. She shrugged her shoulders and in turn he scratched his cheek, using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear.

 

“What’s your obsession with her? It’s getting concerning.” The minute Spark mentioned the word “obsession” Candela instantly knew who was on the other end of the line, and if the hair on her arms could prick up more it would have. Her fears, for the second time that week, had been confirmed.

 

“I don’t care about your apology and even if I did know where she was I wouldn’t put her on the line with you. Please hang up.” There was a mutter from the other side, though from a distance Candela could not decipher it. Part of her didn’t want to know what Blanche was saying.

 

“Listen to me, I don’t want to hear your crap. You’ve caused enough trouble as is and I’m not giving you the opportunity to cause more. Just leave her alone! She doesn’t want anything to do with you.” Silence.

 

“Whatever. Bye.” 

 

Spark ran a hand through his hair, letting the phone drop onto the stand with a loud bang. Candela didn’t bother trying to answer Spark’s fearful look and rubbed her tired eyes with her hand. 

 

“Blanche is on the lookout for you.”

 

“I can tell.”

 

The Instinct leader shot her an apologetic look and walked towards her, shoulders lowered. “Candela I’m _so_ sorry. I promise you’ll be safe here. I won’t let her invade in on our lives again.” Spark’s Pikachu rubbed up against Candela’s leg and she bent over to pick it up and squeeze it close for comfort. Though she already felt a bit safer just having the both of them here there was no doubt hearing from Blanche had her spooked.

 

“Don’t worry about it Spark, I’m sure we’ll be okay.” Both of them knew the exact opposite was likely true, but they were willing to play pretend for now. It was easier that way.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

After the mysterious phone call from Blanche Spark was on the offensive, constantly checking the windows of his house and keeping in close contact with Willow. He even went as far as trying to lend his own Pokemon to Candela so she would have a means to protect herself. When Candela refused he outright denied her the right to give them back, content with letting her keep them so long as she was being pursued. Just to keep him happy she kept two of them on hand, but doubted she’d ever use them so long as she had her second party with her.

 

As the intended target of the whole operation Candela was too enveloped with shock to think anything of the call from earlier. Her perception of Blanche was so fundamentally warped that she had no emotion to properly describe how she felt about it. There was fear of her being exposed to Blanche’s Pokemon and sadness for putting Spark through a dilemma that only affected her and Blanche. Alongside it was anger; fierce anger at Blanche for trying to hunt her down and interrupt her normal life again.

 

It was cumbersome and it became obvious from the way she carried herself. Her hair was in disarray for hours on the odd day she did get around to brushing it, and her goldenrod eyes had lost their signature glow. The only time her personality came through was when she was interacting with the Pokemon inside the house, however the cute Jigglypuffs and Eevees could only do so much to interrupt the thoughts racing through her mind. It was mentally and physically exhausting to be playing this game of hide and seek after just being exposed to a bad injury only weeks prior.

 

It was two days after Blanche had called that Spark decided to do something about it. Without telling Candela anything he woke her up at the insane hour of eight in the morning on a weekday and demanded she shower and get dressed. Something about him felt off and somewhat threatened, but Candela pushed the suspicions aside in favour of just getting through the morning. From there it was a quick breakfast before Spark was ushering her out the door, though not before making sure she had his Pokemon on hand.

 

“You can never be too safe,” He chided, pushing her down the steps and away from the door to his house which he was currently locking.

 

Candela rubbed her tired eyes with her palm, squinting under the morning light coming in from the east. “Okay, you’re acting a bit energetic, even for you. What’s this all about?”

 

“We’re going on a field trip to the mall, and before you start asking, no you can’t stay home.”

 

“I wasn’t going to,” Candela widened her eyes as she tried to shake away the sleep plaguing her, “I actually think some fresh air would be nice for a change.” On the condition that the two didn’t get followed whenever they went of course.

 

“Well good because we’re going to be out for a while!” Spark wasn’t lying when he said it either. An hour into their unprepared trip and Candela already felt drained. For some absurd reason Spark found it fit to parade her around town, which was concerning considering Blanche had just recently found and called them. Candela wasn’t against the idea of getting out, but being in such large populated areas made her feel ironically a bit contained. She also did happen to notice the odd person turned around to get a better look at her, which didn’t help her situation in the slightest.

 

They ended up in a small plaza a good hour walk away from the house, and it was then that the sunlight was starting to get harsh. Spark only then seemed to notice how dead beat Candela was and motioned for her to follow him under a gazebo in the main section of the parking lot. The roof sheltered them from the steadily increasing beams of sunlight and also gave them a good look at the surrounding area, though admittedly Candela was too worn out to give a damn. All she was focusing on was the sight of a bench to sit on; a heavenly grace for her ready to drop legs. She plopped down on the creaky structure and closed her eyes, letting out a gratified sigh of delight.

 

Though the minute she was down and out Spark was by her side again, shaking her shoulder with his gloved hand. “Hey Candela, you see that over there?”

 

“Over where Spark, my eyes are closed.” Spark tapped her cheek with a pointed finger until she opened her amber eyes groggily. When he was sure he had gotten the most of her attention he pointed at something behind her with enduring persistence. 

 

Candela turned her head around to see a small floral business that had been in town for years. It was completely closed off and darkened from the inside out. There was a collection of police ropes preventing people from coming any closer and an ominous shattered window in the front indicating a break in. The damage wasn’t devastating, but it was unusual for the normally peaceful area of the city.

 

“They said Team Mystic did it.” Candela turned back around to fix Spark with an unsure look.

 

“What?” He looked back at her then gestured to the building, so devoid of life. It was as if he believed the image enough justified who had done it.

 

“Some of the grunts are using their Pokemon to take over these buildings. It’s been going on for a while now. I even heard there was a report of them kidnapping Pokemon to experiment on.”

 

Candela didn’t feel convinced. It was brutal, but it felt familiar for completely different reasons. “Are you sure it was Mystic? That looks more like the work of Team Rocket.” The other terrorist group had never been shy to admit their deeds and would scream out their intentions for all the world to hear. Mystic ascended to power quickly but quietly enough for no one to notice, and Blanche was never to kind to reveal her hand of cards before her plan was fully executed. Besides, what use was it robbing a flower shop when there were hundreds more in town with a better crop?

 

“Nope, it was Mystic without a doubt. The witnesses reported a group of blue coated individuals swarming here and I think we both know that Team Rocket don’t wear blue uniforms of any kind.”

 

“Seems weird for Blanche to condone stealing. She was testing the boundaries earlier but it was nothing illegal.”

 

“Well some people will do anything to get what they want, and we always knew Blanche as the ambitious type. If she told them to steal they’d do it.”

 

Candela crossed her arms on the ledge of the gazebo and rested her head down on her hands. “I still don’t understand how those millions of people on the team could stand by and do nothing. There had to be someone that didn’t agree with Blanche.”

 

Spark bit his lip, sitting down next to her. “You’re mistaken actually. Team Mystic suffered a huge loss on the day their true intentions came out. It was only the extremists that remained.”

 

“Oh.” It certainly helped make sense of some things, “Well I’m happy people realized how subversive it was and left. That will make it easier to take those gyms back in the future.” She didn’t ask what vague intentions Spark was talking about, afraid that it might chase him away from the topic too soon.

 

“I hope so. We’ve tried everything but the remaining members of the team are far too powerful. Maybe we would conquer a gym here or there but it never remained for more than an hour or so. Now you know me, I don’t care a lot about gyms, but if Blanche came to power using them then that’s how we’re going to take it away from her. It’s a shame you don’t have your Pokemon with you. We could beat her easily if we worked together.” 

 

“If our own trainers can’t beat them as a team effort than I won’t stand a chance either.”

 

“I don’t know about that. I heard you held up pretty good against her in that final struggle.”

 

“Yeah, before I got blasted into the wall.” Spark winced but Candela didn’t take any mind to it. She had lived through and accepted what had happened. Had it not been for the circumstances at the time it would have just been another battle injury like the many others she had obtained in the past; minus the concussion of course.

 

“Well I’m sure we’ll find a solution sooner or later. She may be powerful, but I doubt she can take on two teams at once.”

 

“We still need a better strategy before we bring the teams back together Spark.”

 

“I know I know. Ironically it makes me wish I had Blanche here. Now before you go ahead and call me a renegade or something don’t get me wrong, I’m angry with her. A part of me just wants her brilliant analytical mind by our sides. Like- It was _Blanche_ who came up with the strategy to take on Team Rocket’s laboratory when the teams were conducting those raids and _Blanche_ who found the clever blackmail to make one of the head scientists submit to the law. Now that she’s gone we’ve lost a major stronghold and it makes me feel... ugh, I don’t want to use that word. How about we say _bitter_. I’m feeling bitter because of this. It hurts to be left behind.”

 

“Believe me Spark I know that feeling all too well,” Candela murmured, letting the image of the broken down shop sink its claws into her memory.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“We’re going out to town again tonight so don’t eat anything.” Spark mentioned offhandedly, sweeping the dust from the candies he had been holding off of his hand. Candela, who had been trying to sort through her personal storage looked up, shooting him a confused look.

 

“Uh- Any reason why? We went out to eat only last night.” Spark pushed a few of his incubating eggs aside and traversed into the kitchen, presumably to find a washcloth for the newest addition to the group the two had picked up at a nearby Pokestop.

 

“We’re meeting a few former Team Mystic members and taking them out for a drink,” He called out, his voice echoing from inside the kitchen, “Now I know you’re going to be upset over this but hear me out. They were friends of some of the breeders on my team and mean no harm whatsoever. They have valuable information that we need to know and I _promise_ you they’re not dangerous.”

 

“It’s fine Spark, it’s fine. I’m not concerned.” With a glance at the digital clock on her computer Candela could see they easily had a few free hours to mess around, and having a drink or two wasn’t unwelcome. The only worrying aspect was the thought of meeting Team Mystic trainers, even if they had left the organization. She didn’t want Spark to know though, that would only make her look like a liar.

 

She swallowed a mouthful of saliva and willed the burning pit in her stomach to leave her alone. She wasn’t going to make a scene tonight, it was just going to be a drink or two between acquaintances. Besides, Spark would end up being the one doing all of the talking. He said it would be safe and she had to trust him.

 

Fast forward to a few hours later and it turned out Spark wasn’t the only one talking, though it wasn’t as bad as Candela had predicted earlier.

 

The two had headed out to a shoddy little bar on the outskirts of the town, the name completely unknown to Candela. However, the isolation almost made it a comfort, with no watching eyes to invoke her paranoia. The musty scent inside of the establishment had a certain charm to it that other locations couldn’t match. The only disturbance were the five individuals waiting for them on a couple of tall bar stools nearby the frosted glass of the windows. They didn’t look nor feel like they belonged here.

 

Candela expected them to initially be uncomfortable with the two leaders there, but the trainers waltzed up to Spark with no fear and introduced themselves, smiles stretching practically to the ends of their ears. They were warier around her, with one of the women even meeting her eyes with a look of pity that Candela detested. If she knew about the whole incident between them she was seriously overestimating just how bad it was. She wasn’t a puppy that needed to lick its wounds; she could manage herself. If she couldn’t, she wouldn’t be here today. Right?

 

They invited the two to sit down with them and eagerly began making small talk as Candela glanced down at her phone, counting down the hours until they could get back. A waitress came by and took their orders, leaving them hurriedly after likely recognizing two of the team leaders. Once she was clearly out of sight Spark sat up straight and placed his elbows on the table, leaning forward for a closer look.

 

“So Giselle, would you like to begin?” The girl that pitied Candela looked up at the mention of her name and nodded, face morphing into a serious expression.

 

“Of course. I won’t waste your time with the obvious, but we all know there was something going on with Blanche a few months back. I told you Spark but I’m not sure if Candela knows.” Her gray eyes darted to Candela as if wanting her opinion. Spark stepped in and reassured her before she could say anything.

 

“She knows, I filled her in yesterday.”

 

Giselle nodded, brushing her wavy peach bangs away from her eyes. “Good. When I had heard about the entire dilemma I called up everyone I knew and outright declared myself a rogue to the team because I was so astonished. My father works as a breeder and our family has fought for generations to build strong bonds with Pokemon. This “evolution” procedure was a step in the wrong direction, but it was what Blanche did after that made me leave,” She recalled, hands making several air gestures as she spoke. 

 

“I know how to do it.” One of the male trainers spoke up, taking his Mystic coloured cap off and putting it on the table. 

 

Spark eyed him carefully. “How to do what?”

 

“Evolve them unnaturally. A few of my trainers witnessed and came to tell me.” His voice was steady and strong, but it was his eyes were what truly gave away how tormented he felt.

 

Giselle straightened her back, bracing her hands on the table. “I saw the Pokemon evolve, but I never actually saw what she put into the candies.”

 

“It’s a type of drug made from several different kinds of berries. It rewires the nervous system and tricks the body into believing that it has enough fuel to change shape. By the time it realizes it didn’t have enough, the evolution process has already taken place and they break out of their shells in a body too small for their intended mass. The lack of proper nutrition makes them fight harder. Think of it like being on the brink of death. You’ll fight like a savage, and that’s just what they do,” The man elaborated, every once in a while looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

 

Giselle shivered, nose scrunched up. “That sounds terrifying.”

 

“Yeah, I know. Somehow it’s so spectacular that Blanche is hypnotized by it. The whole philosophy that she can never lose has corrupted her, and I guess being one of the strongest trainers out there has boosted her confidence to the maximum.”

 

“It still doesn’t feel like the Blanche we know and love. She never hesitated to put her Pokemon first. Why would she do this to them.” Spark muttered, rubbing circles in his black sleeve jacket.

 

The other man, which Candela remembered as Hyde from his “suave” introduction, raised a finger. “If I may join in, I would say Blanche has undergone a severe form of self-aggrandizement. She thinks of herself as so powerful and important that only her goals and the outcome matters. She’s lost the ability to look at her Pokemon and think they’re in pain; she just sees victory. They’re just weapons to her.” Giselle casted him a perplexed look and so he continued. “She’s been knocked down so many times that she’s willing to do anything to redeem herself, and this is it. She’s lost empathy, and it doesn’t go any farther than that.”

 

Before Hyde could elaborate more, another man next to him raised a hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but in my group I would say I was the most bothered by what had happened. That is, when they told us they would be evolving our Pokemon for a “test.” I had a Butterfree I put forth for them to use and when I got her back she was completely different. Apparently it had something to do with memory problems and boy did it show. She couldn’t even remember how to fly properly.” 

 

The familiarity of the situation struck Candela, and her attention focused on the baffled face across from hers. “Yes, when Blanche had been trying to get me to switch sides a similar thing happened. She evolved my Rhyhorn. It turned on the offensive and even went as far as trying to smack me away.”

 

Giselle nodded, scratching the back of her neck. “Sounds like one of the problems we encountered, though it only happens to Rock Types. It’s rare but sometimes the Pokemon turn aggressive to everything around them after they evolve. Yours just happened to be a victim to it.”

 

Candela scoffed, “From the way she talked about it the whole thing seemed rather common.”

 

The majority of the trainers looked a bit puzzled at the outburst, and Giselle in particular shook her hand. “Not really. If Blanche had simply introduced the evolution concept and been done with it she wouldn’t have lost so much public image. It was only once she brought up the ideas of hoarding that power that people started to get upset. It also probably didn’t help that they at first didn’t do much about the problems they experienced. The memory loss trauma wasn’t addressed until there was a huge public outcry - and even then they didn’t do a good patch job. They expected us to follow with the promise of changing the future, but at the same time had drifted so far away from what made us like them in the first place. In the end, there was no sympathy to be found. Now all that remains are the people sick in the head or trying to prove themselves.”

 

Candela briefly looked over the points brought up, eyes studying the intense details of the bar table as she absorbed everything Giselle had said. “I was under the impression that the evolution cruelty was bad enough on its own.”

 

“Perhaps, but there’s been worse in the past. Didn’t Team Valor have a thing a year back when trainers actually went as far as fighting their Pokemon one on one to increase their physical attack stat?”

 

Candela winced as the memory was brought up. “Yeah, that wasn’t met with a good reception.”

 

“This is the same problem. People don’t know what to think of it and in both situations the well being of the Pokemon is taken into question. The difference is that while you had justification and didn’t take it too seriously, Blanche has gone all out. She’s ignoring her teammates and is so obsessed with doing something meaningful that everything else has taken a backseat. It’s contagious. Her scientists took advantage of it and began using her plan to forward their experiments which resulted in right wing methods being used to achieve their goals and armed robberies being committed to get the materials they needed. Sure people spoke up, but so long as they used the excuse of “it was what Blanche would want” they could do whatever they wished. Blanche was blind to it and assumed it was progress, so she did nothing about it. Now all we have is Blanche, the puppet, being controlled and painted to be as a dictator by the people beneath her,” Giselle explained, “She’s a symbol that is only focusing on her personal goals while her whole team lays confused beneath her.” The long explanation left the girl out of breath, and she sipped some of the water she had close by as Candela let the information sink in. 

 

There was still the question of the new team uniform changes and Blanche’s total ignorance when Candela _knew_ she was smart enough to see, but it didn’t seem as important at the moment. There was a lull in the conversation as the waitress returned back with a platter containing the drinks the group had ordered. The waitress didn’t look as awkward as she had before, but still seemed a bit uneasy regarding the situation. Candela did her best to assure her with a fake smile, and it seemed to work, if only a little.

 

The first sip was nice and refreshing. It had been a while since she had alcohol and it burned her tongue on contact, though it was a burn she had been craving. She wasn’t the type to drink normally or even from time to time. It was rare for her to ever crave something sharp, but tonight was an exception. Candela just wanted to forget ever getting tangled up in this mess.  

 

Two drinks later and the resonating tension had almost completely vanished. The conversation had changed from how Team Mystic had escalated into danger to simple Pokemon shenanigans that anyone could add to. Candela found herself laughing along them and sharing experiences that helped bond her Pokemon and make them so strong. The back of her mind screamed about how it wanted to be sad; sad because her six main Pokemon were no longer with her, but she ignored it. It was too fuzzy to be anything but content.

 

The seven of them were crowding a table, chatting loudly over the obnoxious music that the almost abandoned bar was playing. It drowned out Candela’s worries and replaced it with the blaring lyrics of another generic pop song that quickly got lost in translation. It was good junk food for her mind so that she could forget about all that was going on. The drink made her head feel fuzzy, and the feeling of warmth was comforting. Spark was laughing about something his team member had said and Candela joined in with a pathetic giggle. 

 

But after another hour or so the miracle wore off and Candela found herself pinching her eyes shut to try and block out the overwhelming overload of information. It was late and she was running on very little sleep. Her head slumped forward and she almost fell off of her sleep when she tried to adjust her position.

 

“Hey Candela, you feeling alright?” She looked up from the table to meet eyes with Spark, who didn’t look much better himself.

 

 With strained eyes Candela could only attempt to nod. He patted her back, “Maybe we should be getting home. You haven’t been sleeping well lately and I don’t want that trend to continue.” 

 

Candela shakily stood to her feet and bent over to pick up her backpack. It caught the attention of the trainers which all turned to watch. The eyes on her made the speed of her hands slow down noticeably, but she tried to focus on zipping her bag shut. 

 

“Oh, are you two leaving Spark?” Giselle stood up, holding onto the table with her hand. Though she appeared to be the most stable of the crew Candela could see her eyes were cloudy and unfocused, almost as if she was in a trance.

 

“Yeah I think so. Me and Candela have been pretty stressed as of lately so I think it would be a good time to call it a night.” Candela groaned, rolling her stiff shoulders back to confirm Spark’s suspicions.

 

“Before you go, we wanted to give you something.” She reached down to root through her own bag for something. Candela’s eyes followed her fingers as they zipped open parts of the bag and shuffled through the contents inside. Finally, Giselle reached her arm in and pulled out a set of four normal Poké Balls. Beside her one of the other girls did the same.

 

“Please, take these from us.” Candela looked down at the unfamiliar Poké Balls and then looked back up at the respective trainers. They looked maybe a bit too eager to give up their partners to complete strangers.

 

Spark ended up being the one to speak up. “Hey that’s really nice of you to offer them but we can manage by ourselves. You’ll need them to protect yourselves.”

 

“Oh you don’t understand. Me and Nerissa are both very experienced trainers that went through those evolution practices. These Pokemon were affected, but they still work very well. I think we all agree they would be better off with you. Besides, we have our own Pokemon that we can rely on.”

 

Candela shook her head in decline. “We can’t just take your Pokemon Giselle.”

 

“If not for me then do it for your cause. The only way you can beat Mystic trainers is if you use their technique against them. These Pokemon will be able to stand their ground when the going gets tough. Please take them, you’ll thank us later.” Spark turned to face Candela. She met his look with disinclination, still not confident in her ability to use someone else’s Pokemon. However Giselle looked more than ready to hand them over.

 

With lacking enthusiasm, Candela reached out and took the offered Pokemon.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

With the conversation still fresh in their minds, Spark and Candela started brainstorming about what to do with the information they had gathered that night. Despite all the good ideas being tossed back and forth between the two of them nothing productive ever came from their conversations. Team Instinct and Team Valor remained stagnant with no one to control them. Trainers still used the name and fought for the honour of doing so but there were no leaders there to supervise. Meanwhile the outside world sat in confusion at what was going on, torn between fear of a new Team Rocket and suspense at what had happened to the three biggest organizations set in place to prepare trainers for the league.

 

For the competitive and active Candela sitting in place and waiting for trouble to come to them was an annoyance. She had been given very few answers since her arrival back home and though it may have been done to keep her sane it didn’t help solve the problem. Watching Spark sneak around and try to talk to people without involving her stung. She wanted to feel like she was useful, but deep down she knew it didn’t make a physical difference whether or not she was held captive at Blanche’s or captive at Spark’s. 

 

Which was why the sudden conflict that arouse the coming Sunday helped kick her into gear.

 

The day started out as nothing special. Spark and her were prepared to simply hatch a few eggs on a short walk and be back for a late lunch. For the first time that week Candela had high spirits and was looking forward to finally seeing what was inside that 10k egg she and Spark had picked up at a Pokestop close to their house. The Pidgey were singing in delight and there was nothing over the news that predicted oncoming conflict or danger. It was almost as if nothing could possibly go wrong.

 

All of that was shattered by a frantic woman that approached them from around the corner of the block, screaming her lungs out. It yanked the two leaders out of their bubble of calm and kicked their adrenaline into gear.

 

“Please, please! You have to help me!” The woman almost tripped over her unlaced shoes, but luckily Spark caught her on time. She clutched onto his black jacket as she gasped for breath, words spilling out in an indescribable mess under her breath. Her long frizzy brown hair was blocking her eyes from view, practically erasing her features. The sight kicked feelings of pity out of Candela and in sympathy she kneeled down next to her friend, holding the shaking woman’s hand.

 

“Whoa, miss please calm down. What’s wrong?”

 

“My brother! My brother’s store is being robbed and I don’t know what to do!”

 

“Okay calm down, show us where it’s happening.” Spark and her honestly weren’t expecting to get into a battle; nonetheless, their sense of righteousness kicked in and neither had to confirm with the other their plan before they were sprinting off, the woman barely managing to keep up. Candela continued to hold onto her hand and guided her along the sidewalk, narrowly dodging the other confused pedestrians. 

 

She steered them to a tiny plaza with a convenience store and fast food restaurant. In the middle was a berry exchange store that dealt with flora and sure enough, it was swarming with Team Mystic grunts. The uniforms mirrored the ones Candela had seen earlier but were much more detailed and looked more like Blanche’s long coat compared to the much shorter and close cut uniforms the grunts inside headquarters had been sporting.

 

Spark shouted out something partially cheesy when they were in range of being heard and in a second all of their heads turned to see who was behind them. Candela only then realized they may be a bit over their heads and braced her hand on her belt. The Pokemon the trainers at the bar had given them rested there, still waiting to be used. She had a feeling this would turn ugly real fast.

 

Though as Arceus had heard their prayers a grunt stuffed inside the back of the store yelled out the command to retreat. The spell had been broken and the group scattered in an instant. If Candela and Spark had back up she would have made the choice to hunt them down, though at this moment the top priority was making sure the woman’s brother was alright.

 

All the remained from the scattered group of Mystic grunts were two much smaller and meager trainers that looked rather unsure of what to do. As the only two left behind they seemed to understand that they were much weaker in presence without a bunch of scientist look-a-likes to back them up. There was some admiration to be had for them choosing to stay, but that didn’t mean Candela and Spark weren’t going to go after them. Behind them remained some parts of the raided store, but none of the supplies had actually made it out of the doors. The winner of the match would determine where they went.

 

And Candela was determined to win this match.

 

She rushed forward without listening to Spark and released the first Poké Ball her hand had grabbed onto. Throwing it up to the sky the capture device opened and revealed a strong bodied Pidgeot with sharp ruby red eyes full of determination. Candela would even go as far as to say the eyes were a bit too sharp. The glint was not something unrecognizable- in fact it was the same look her Rhydon had sported shortly after evolving.

 

One of the Team Mystic grunts turned and let out a gasp of surprise at Candela as though recognizing that particular bird. However he didn’t try to voice whatever was on his mind and instead sent out his own Pokemon, a much smaller Wigglytuff. The large pink Pokemon cried at its release and fluffed out its bright pink fur. Unlike Pidgeot it didn’t seem to be taking the match seriously, its wide eyes content to just watch for the time being.

 

Spark ran up to her side, fumbling with his own belt. After a second he released a Magneton, to the relief of Candela. Magneton was a strong Pokemon that could handle itself. The magnetic Pokemon erratically moved back and forth as if agitated by being out of its Poké Ball, and Candela could tell it wasn’t one of Spark’s own.

 

From the other side of the parking lot the last grunt sent out a Clefable to match the previous entered Wigglytuff. It was calm and looked to be pretty happy just like any normal Pokemon would. Unfortunately, it did nothing to de-puzzle Candela’s mind. If these were Blanche’s super Pokemon then why weren’t they taking the match more seriously? Where was that determination?

 

She decided to not dwell on the thought and stepped forward to reassert herself. “Spark I’ll take on Wigglytuff, you deal with Clefable.” Spark nodded and changed into battle stance. His demeanour turned serious and Candela turned to focus on her own battle, and more importantly, Pidgeot. The bird looked pumped to fight and now it was time to see how the alleged candy evolution paid off.

 

“Pidgeot use Wing Attack from above!” The Pidgeot thankfully did as told the second it heard Candela voice her command. The majestic bird flew straight up and then somersaulted mid air until it was looking down at its opponent. It crossed its wings and used a Wing Attack that looked much more exaggerated than any other form of the move Candela had ever seen. It made direct contact with the poor Wigglytuff below and the second it hit both trainers knew what the fate of the match had been.

 

Wigglytuff was tossed back because of the recoil and barely missed slamming into the glass of the fast food restaurant. The people inside either had their faces pressed up against the glass or were recording it on their phones. The temptation to block her face was strong, but Candela knew she had bigger problems on her plate. Beside her, Spark appeared to have won his own battle; the poor Clefable he had faced off was barely moving.

 

It took exactly zero effort on their behalf to win, but was a victory regardless. The male trainer looked upset but not surprised, which caught Candela’s eye. After all the build up of how strong Blanche’s trainers were it was very anticlimactic to have their first battle with the new Pokemon end in a single attack.

 

Spark recalled his Magneton and met the shop owner’s sister in a hug. Her face carried an expression of pure gratitude for their task and though Candela was happy to help she was far too consumed with her own thoughts. The battle had left her with more questions than answers, and from experience she knew no one here was going to help her figure it out.

 

Candela kept her eyes down on the Pidgeot’s Poké Ball. Even after only seeing a single attack Candela knew the Pidgeot was obviously more powerful than any ordinary trainer’s Pokemon. 

 

Giselle had mentioned it was tampered with but Candela could have never imagined it was to such an extreme.

 

It was powerful.

 

It was _incredible._

 

Wasn’t strength the only thing she was striving for? Wasn’t this what she wanted? 

 

“C’mon Candela think of the Pokemon,” Candela whispered under her breath. She refused to let her mind be overshadowed by the temptation of what could have been if Blanche hadn’t got to such extremes.

 

Walking a mile in Blanche’s shoes did much worse things to Candela than her captivity ever had.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be up tomorrow, and if not then the day after. It's in the final editing stage.


	4. Chapter Four

          Sleep was a brand new kind of torture for Candela. Unless she was physically worn out there was no hope for her ever being able to recharge overnight, and that meant long hours spent doing nothing. Even with her flimsy headache medication she still couldn’t convince her body to take a break and relax. Had it not been for the lack of headaches she could have called it worse than before. At least earlier on she had managed to pass out. Now she was just a miserable zombie running on whatever nutrients she had stuffed into her body that day.

 

Because of how consistent the nights were she spent hours planning what to do in the spare time she had been given. Going out to explore the plaza already proved too risky, and catching Pokemon had lost its appeal for the time being. Her computer now remained as her only source of entertainment and even it was starting to just drown on.

 

Lazily blinking Candela scrolled up and down through the pages, bored out of her mind. The clock ticked on, documenting the many minutes she had spent doing absolutely nothing while being miserable. With the lab reports for Vaporeon and Golduck filled out she was held to no responsibilities and nothing had happened in the past few days that would be worth looking in to. For a time of supposed ‘war’ between the teams there was a startling lack of coverage or action. Her own team, as predicted, looked to be as dead as it could be without a direction to take.

 

There had been a time in the past where she considered just listening to Spark and rallying the teams together for a big fight, but she knew it would likely end badly for all of them. Even without the guarantee that everyone would participate it was far too risky and there would no doubt be casualties if the candy-evolved Pokemon were out on the field. The needs of her team outweighed any option of attack and she hoped Spark and Willow knew of it.

 

As she clicked from site to site checking in on news and changing the songs in her playlist she caught sight of a small but noticeable number one next to the tab supporting her email. Deciding it was likely some kind of progress report she clicked to move tabs only to not see the highlighted yellow of the professor’s name. In its place was an ordinary email sitting on top of the layers of spam and advertisements simply coined as Giselle Campbell. The name struck a familiar string in Candela and her curiosity drove her to click on the caption to read the whole thing.

 

 

Giselle Campbell <campbell.giselle@teammystic.com>

to me

 

Dear Candela,

 

Hello Candela, it’s Giselle Campbell from a few nights earlier. You may remember be as one of the Mystic trainers that reached out to Spark. That aside I hope life has been good to you since we last spoke, as it certainly has been for me! I had a lot of fun that night and I was happy to share what I knew with you and your friend.

 

Now before I begin I did want to say I saw your battle with that Wigglytuff over the news and I was completely blown away by how strong both you and Pidgeot were. It was pretty incredible to see how you worked with my partner and that it listened so well to every command you used (Well you only used one attack but you know what I mean). I just knew I had the right idea when I handed it over to you- I mean someone with your level of experience could do almost anything so I should have known but that doesn’t steal the show away from you. Hopefully it changed your mind a bit on the topic of evolution too.

 

I did come here for a reason, and that was Blanche. Ever since I left Mystic I have been out of contact with her, but after the recent incident she approached me. I think it had to do with her recognizing the Pidgeot and putting two and two together. I have no idea if you knew about it or talked to Blanche recently but she’s been turning the city upside down looking for you.

 

As a former member I cannot account for her actions but I do know she wanted to apologize and work out a solution to the whole fiasco going on. Under normal circumstances I would think nothing of it but I do hold it under firm belief that you may be the only one to put an end to all of this. Do you think you could consider contacting her? It’s a lot to ask of you but she won’t listen to anyone else.

 

On behalf of all five of us I thank you, and I trust you’ll make the right decision.

 

Giselle

 

 

Candela let her eyes scan the message, taking in every little detail there was for show. There was no surprise that the video taken of them would end up online, but she did feel partially threatened to have Blanche watching their every move. Giselle seemed to think Blanche looking for her was endearing but Candela just found it creepy. How long were they being followed for?

 

Giselle’s email did spawn an inner voice in Candela that perked up at the thought of putting an end to all of this. If she truly was the last person Blanche would listen to then it was her responsibility to do something about it, even if she was utterly terrified of the bad ending outcome. Who was to say Blanche wouldn’t try pulling her old tricks again.

 

For about ten minutes Candela did nothing but re-read the email over and over again, evaluating the benefits and consequences of whatever choice she decided to make. She was dealing with fire, and she knew if she was either too loose or too constricting she would end up burned. The pressure was causing her headache to bite back and she made the mental note to take another pill tonight before she went to bed.

 

By the end of it she only wound up a confused and frustrated mess. It was far too late to be making such decisions, but she knew it wasn’t something she would be able to sleep off (if she could even get to sleep that was). It would plague her mind until she did something about it and what made it worse was knowing Spark wasn’t going to be able to help her out of it this time.

 

Absentmindedly, she reached over the desk to grab a hold of her phone, careful to not disturb the incubating egg next to it. Candela turned the upside down phone right side up and pressed the bottom button to turn it on, seeing the unfamiliar lock screen come to life. It was too bad that Blanche had taken the one she mainly used, but that wasn’t to say this one wasn’t a useful substitute. With lightning fast speed she typed in her password and clicked on her contacts, all while sometimes glancing back up at what Giselle had wrote.

 

As a team leader she had the names and contact information of too many people to keep track of. All of the usernames and faces blurred under her intense gaze and the memories of who they were had been corrupted, all for one. Underneath her weekly progress report to Willow was the last message she and Blanche had exchanged two months back before she had gone missing.

 

Out of curiosity she clicked on Blanche’s name and was directed to basic personal information. Blanche’s contact number was still listed and looked to be in use, alongside her business and home numbers. If she was still using this number then Candela could very well reach her and leave a message.

 

The idea of being able to chew Blanche out over the phone was a bit desirable. This way Candela wouldn’t have to talk face to face and Blanche wouldn’t have to hunt her down for a casual conversation. The only issue was Spark, who was still asleep only a few rooms away. His door was always jutted open and that meant there was a distinct possibility he could wake if she made too much noise. It would leave her with a lot of explaining to do. The other issue was Blanche herself. There was no guarantee Blanche would pick up, and she likely wouldn’t the time of night.

 

Candela was torn between the two options before realizing she could just text the other and get a similar response. Actually, texting would be much easier than the former two ideas she had conjured up. With a new sense of courage burning inside her she left the contact information and returned back to the messages. 

 

She made a final decision and started typing.

 

**> Blanche, it’s Candela. I’m willing to talk about what has happened if you can still be reached by these means, thank you.**

 

Candela was determined to not show any weakness the other could exploit, and for now familiarity was out of the question. She moved her finger over to the “send” button and hovered, unsure of what to do now. Her conscious screamed at her to do something and get back at the woman who has been unintentionally and yet at the same time intentionally harassing her over the last couple of weeks. Deep down she also wanted to get Blanche’s perspective without hearing it through the words of someone that wasn’t Blanche herself.

 

Would she retaliate? Would she track her down and attempt to recreate what had happened at the gym? It was all too much of a possibility.

 

She clicked send.

 

Raking a shaky hand through her hair she stood up from the half worn computer chair and put the phone down, intent on getting a glass of water to relieve herself of the burning heat that had seeped into the room. She slipped off her signature white jacket and walked to the door, feet shuffling over the old yet intact carpet. Yet before she could even go as far as twist the door handle her phone let out an ominous beep, alerting her that she had just been contacted.

 

From where she was at the door Candela completely stopped, almost dreading hearing the noise. Either one of her co-leaders was mysterious up past twelve and coincidentally wanted to talk or Blanche was, in fact, awake and just responded. The latter must have either stayed up late to work again or just been unable to sleep herself. Regardless, it wasn’t something Candela had been expecting.

 

With a forlorn glance at the door Candela retreated back to her desk, bending over to pick up her phone. There, underneath the snippet she had sent, was Blanche.

 

**> Good evening Candela. I’m surprised to see you’ve held on to my contact but pleased nonetheless.  What would you like to talk about?**

 

It was simple and quaint, sounding nothing like how she’d imagine Blanche to be by now. It drew her interest in enough to make her sit down and scoot her chair in as sat down with her phone to reply. 

 

**> We need to talk about whats been going on with you and your team**

**> I think you know what im talking abotu I shouldnt have to explain**

 

Her phone highlighted the spelling errors but the exhausted Candela couldn’t care less and clicked send. It was late anyway, would Blanche even care?

 

**> I thought you may have a few questions. Ask me anything you want and I promise to answer as best I can.**

 

**> where do I even begin- the robberies and theft**

**> abusing pokemon**

**> sneaking around town**

**> not to mention you have been following me too closely for my liking**

**> I know youre up to something so dont try to deny it, I know you too well**

 

**> I’ll try to tackle each topic as best I can so please be patient**

**> First off, I do not condone the robberies and thefts that have been taking place. Not only do I have no need for it but I’m also not one to stoop so far as to harm the business of another without reason.**

 

**> you do have a reason. your evolution method requires berries in order to work**

 

**> That’s true, but why wouldn’t I have the berries I needed on hand? Not only do I get a monthly supply that lasts us just fine but we also grow our own berries inside of the gardens at our headquarters. Robbing would only leave us with more berries than we would ever have use for, and therefore is a waste of my time.**

**> As your friend I will say that I know they have been happening frequently and I know I haven’t done much to stop them. That is only because I infer the ones behind the operations are my highly respected scientists. Until I either have replacements or the identities of others involved with the operations there is nothing I can do. My team relies on them to function, so for me to go firing possibly innocent workers is harmful to our standing.**

 

**> then just look into who the commanders are. its not that hard**

 

**> I wish I could, but there’s simply too much going on.**

 

**> youre making excuses blanche**

 

**> Candela I assure you I am not. I have been the one cleaning up after the messes and only my co-leaders have had the time to do something about it. We have so much on our plate that it’s become overwhelming to deal with it all at once. I am not lying when I say I will be taking action to stop these attacks.**

**> It’s difficult when I am unaware of why they are happening in the first place. I’m just as in the dark as you.**

 

**> but youre the leader, you should know about everything thats going on inside and outside of your team**

 

**> I am only human Candela and I’m under a lot of stress. I will look into it and I will punish those involved. The two you faced off have already been terminated.**

**> I have a feeling anything I say will seem like a lie at this point. How about we move on?**

 

Candela could sense Blanche was crumbling under the pressure which was a good sign. At this point she couldn’t tell who was lying and who was telling the truth so she took everything with a grain of salt. Fortunately it seemed Blanche didn’t have a lot of good excuses to cover up her tracks. That or she was telling the truth and was truly unaware, which while it would back up what the former Mystic members had said, it would also severely damage Blanche’s reputation as being in control at all times. It was very much unlike her to not be managing every aspect of her team down to the most basic grunt.

 

**> okay so how about you explain this magical evolution practice of yours. ths one thats behind all of this abuse**

 

**> Abuse is not the intention of anyone on my team, I can say that without a doubt.**

 

**> maybe not but you wont do much about it so long as you reap the benefits of genetically modifying these pokemon**

 

**> I genetically modify them because I wish to bring out their full potential. Like any normal experiment we are bound to run into problems that can visibly upset the public, but that’s why we work around it. We’re bringing something new to the table that is a work in progress. Because of this, it is going to be rough the first few times it is used. We take information from those tests to improve so that we can shape a much better final result.**

**> It’s no different from items like Protein and Calcium. Just like us they were met with public outcry and were even banned in some provinces, until over time people found they didn’t mind. How are we any different from them?**

 

**> if theyre prototypes then why are you using in battle**

**> heck why are you even leting them out of your sight at all. what made you think it was a good idea to parade around town taking over all he gyms with no explanation**

 

**> As I told you, we needed to get our message out to people so they would take us seriously. Do you honestly think anyone would support our cause if we just showed them a stronger Pokemon than before? We would look like fools.**

 

**> so you thought it was a good idea to crush the harmony between us and selfishly promote yourselves. you do realize all of the teams have had to take a step back because of your meddling**

 

**> I didn’t cause that, Willow was the one who told everyone to stop battling and lay down their arms. Even when I told him you were alive and well he accused me of harming you and told this to everyone on your team that so that they would fight harder. From what I have heard he was the one who informed Spark to go into hiding and lay low in the first place. **

**> Also factor in that at the time of me coming to power Willow threatened to disqualify everyone on Team Mystic from ever being able to battle again if I continued with my studies. If he had his way it would be no different now because of the utter confusion surrounding the incident. In fact it might have been much worse.**

**> I will take responsibility for my actions but I refuse to be the one taking the blame for the actions on Willow and Spark’s behalf. Something tells me the two of them haven’t been very truthful with you.**

 

**> do not pretend you havent lied to me in turn**

 

**> I will not. I did try to silence the truth at times and for that I apologize. I for one am willing to own up to my actions and tell you what you need to know. What you _deserve_ to know.**

**> If I may turn the tides and ask you a question, can you say that since you have arrived ‘home’ you have been told nothing but the truth?**

 

That made Candela pause and sit back, knocking her head against the top of the chair. She had noticed the others tiptoe around her and the lack of evidence to support what they claimed to be true. If Giselle and the other Mystic trainers were being truthful then some elements of Spark’s stories did not add up. For the first time since she had been under the same roof as Spark she considered the possibility that both sides may have played equal parts to further the conflict.

 

**> I cannot say that spark has been honest with me all the time..**

**> but hes still better than you **

 

**> That may be true, but I want to ease you into the possibility that perhaps in some areas I have been truthful and reasonable. **

**> I doubt Spark informed you of the bigger fights me and Willow had over the summer. Or even the threat of extermination my team faced in our darkest hour. Of course they would try to make me seem like the emotionless leader. It gives them more power.**

**> Some of my efforts have been towards helping you see the truth, and I want you to see that without feeling constricted. **

 

Candela stood up from the chair and closed her computer to put it in sleep mode, all while keeping her eyes glued to the phone. She wouldn’t deny how Blanche had caught her interest and did look forward to someone having answers. She shuffled over to the bed and flopped onto the comfortable cotton sheets, her ruffled head scattering beneath her.

 

**> well you cetianly faild on that last part**

 

**> Candela with all due respect you sound absolutely exhausted. **

**> I’m willing to answer any remaining questions you have tomorrow, but for now I recommend a good night’s rest.**

 

**> only if you promise youll respodn tomorrow**

 

**> I promise I will be there.**

 

**> k**

 

Candela let out a loud groan, flinging her phone to the corner of the bed. She stared up at the ceiling in disinterest, memorizing the patterns to try and take her mind off of what had just happened. She doubted she would be able to get a proper sleep with the looming threat of Blanche on her mind, but there was no problem with trying.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Candela made the decision to not tell Spark about her conversations with Blanche. It was such a controversial decision on her behalf and she had a feeling he wouldn’t take kindly to her messaging the enemy after being warned to stay away. Despite everything wrong with it, a certain feeling convinced Candela to continue on and not worry about Blanche.

 

She filled the next day with as many activities as possible to alleviate her mind from the problem. She went out to hatch eggs with Spark and trained her current party to the best of her ability.The whole time she not once looked at her phone, afraid she would see Blanche’s name there. 

 

Fortunately for her, Blanche seemed to be giving her the space she needed. The only time her phone would buzz about being contacted it was either someone from Valor asking to see if she was still there or some promotional garbage she could ignore. Despite getting the space she wanted from Blanche the lack of any attention soon started to eat away at Candela.

 

She spent the whole night trying to chase away the emotion until eventually she broke. The mystery of it all was too much to handle.

 

After dinner consisting of some kind of foreign soup and sandwiches she escaped up to her room and locked the door behind her. It wasn’t as if she needed to, but the isolation made her feel more at ease. Her guilty conscious wouldn’t forgive her and neither would Spark.

 

The phone in her hands hummed to life and lit the darkened room with a pale glow. Candela waited patiently after typing in her password and then flew straight to her messages. At the top of her most recent conversations stood Blanche’s number, somewhat menacing in its power. The last message she had sent remained, a simple ‘k’ with no formality or emotion shown. Part of her wanted Blanche to take offence, but she knew someone as mature as Blanche would think nothing of it. She probably assumed Candela was too tired to conduct a proper farewell.

 

Not that she was wrong; Candela was barely standing by the end of the conversation.

 

Shaking her head, she chased the thoughts away and opened the chat. It was a new day, and hopefully it would bring more answers.

 

**> Hey, you awake**

 

Candela twiddled her thumbs, waiting to see if the other would get back to her immediately like last time. A minute passed, followed by two. Right before she turned to log on her computer the sign of the other typing back became evident and she dropped the current task in favour of staring at what the other had to say.

 

**> Of course I am, the night is still young. I’m guessing you wish to resume our previous conversation?**

 

**> Yeah**

 

**> Where would you like to begin?**

 

Candela scrolled up past everything they had said the night prior to reach the list she had made. Blanche had, to the best of her ability, explained the abuse and theft. All the remained were the personal questions as to why Blanche was following her. Originally she thought it would feel great to get answers, but now she wasn’t so sure.

 

**> Well**

**> I want to know why youre so obsessed with me**

**> As in following anything I do and using your teammates to get in contact with me**

**> Its creeping me out**

 

**> ...**

 

Candela sat back, sipping some of her iced tea as she waited for Blanche to respond.

 

**> It’s complicated.**

 

**> Thats not an answer**

 

**> I know it’s not an answer but I don’t know how to explain it.**

**> What do you want me to say?**

 

**> I want to know why you wanted me to see your side of the story so badly**

**> Why you kept me captive and couldnt look me in the eyes and say youd let me run free**

**> You didnt do it with Spark or anyone else so why am I the exception**

 

**> Because Candela, you aren’t like anyone else I have ever met in my whole life.**

**> I have encountered the brightest scientists and manics, as well as the most honest co-leaders. Being leader of an organization has made me come across so many talented individuals.**

 

**> What does that have to do with me**

 

**> It’s because despite all of their one-of-a-kind efforts, none of them could compare to you.**

**> I have spent my whole life looking for someone that has seen things my way and it was difficult. Even with an army of people united by my ideals I felt alone.**

**> Willow couldn’t understand me and refused to support me. Every time I brought up an idea or something I wanted to do he shot me down. It got to the point where I couldn’t take it.**

**> Spark is much kinder, and bless his heart. The only problem is that me and him are too different. Our strengths in brilliance are so very different and it makes it hard to relate. I could never truly understand what he would preach or see things from his perspective. In the end, he chose Willow over me, and though I don’t hold it against him it does put some distance between us.**

**> You on the other hand are a symbol, an idea. My world revolves around understanding the strength of Pokemon through evolution and a core part of that equation is power. I work to achieve what you desire and it makes us two halves of a whole. Like counterparts.**

 

Candela stared at the somewhat airy message, failing to see Blanche behind them. They were too open, too attached. It made her feel suffocated yet at the same time breathed life into her.

 

**> I knew if anyone would back me up it was you, so I selfishly put forth an effort to bring you over to me. I wanted to convince myself that you would listen and agree with my methods just like you had in the past. That fantasy overtook reality and I couldn’t see past my objective.**

**> In trying to get closer to you I only hurt you, and I see now that so long as I try to hold you I’m only going to make you run farther away.**

 

The hairs on Candela’s skin stood up and she nervously bit her lip, trying to think of what to say.

 

**> uh blanche**

 

**> It was only after you left that I broke out of that spell. I came to the realization that if I changed who I was to stand up to Willow I would lose the only support I ever had.**

**> Mystic wouldn’t be able to exist without Valor. That fire kept us alive.**

 

**> I... would say it was the friendly competition and the gyms that kept us alive**

 

**> Perhaps, but in some ways you grounded us. You gave us a reason to fight. When Willow separated us we faltered. I made poor decisions because I didn’t have you there to tell me I was going too far. Mystic trampled all competition without any challenge. It was not fun, it was domination. I got to show off my skills but at what cost?**

**> So now I’m trying to pick up the pieces. I can still achieve that fantasy dream I wanted to bring to life and still be a good person. Wounds take time to heal, but I was hoping that you would be able to help me one last time.**

**> The only way I could ever begin to bandage that wound was to apologize and keep you safe.**

**> And I feared some of my team might have taken things too far.**

**> At this point the only thing I’m trying to do is make things right.**

 

**> ...**

**> give me a minute to process all of this**

 

**> Will do.**

 

Candela sat back and rested her head on her raised knee, her energy level completely drained. The amount of information she had to take in was absurd. It was certainly an answer, but she wasn’t sure if it was one she wanted to hear.

 

**> How can I be sure you want to change when all youve done so far has been linked to malicious intent**

 

**> I’ll prove it, if you want.**

 

**> How**

 

**> I meant to bring it up earlier, but circumstances made it difficult.**

**> It’s concerning your Pokemon.**

 

Candela snapped into awareness and lurched forward, barely stopping her chair from collapsing out from underneath her.

 

**> You still have them!?**

 

**> I do, and I wanted to give them to you earlier. However there’s been trust issues among the grunts ever since the break-ins and you weren’t talking to me so I had no way to let you know. Now that we’re in touch I think we could work out a time and location to meet.**

 

**> ... whats the catch**

 

**> No catch, I’m being serious. I was wrong to withhold them from you for so long.**

 

**> I would... like that very much**

**> But how do I know you wont try to pull the same crap you did last time**

 

**> You can bring Spark and as many trainers as you’d like if you don’t trust me. **

**> We could also meet somewhere public so that there’s people nearby. That might make you feel a bit safer.**

 

Candela thought she would feel safe knowing there would be people. Instead, it only made her feel worse. And what about Spark? He had made it perfectly clear that he held some hatred for Blanche, even going as far as demanding Candela stay away from any kind of contact with her. If he knew about her meeting up with the current enemy of the two teams, what would he say?

 

The thought of saving her Pokemon outweighed the consequences of any mistrust from Spark, but was it worth being potentially alone with Blanche?

 

**> Im not sure meeting someone public appeals to me Blanche**

**> Could it be somewhere semi-public**

**> uh**

**> Like a gym maybe**

 

**> A gym would be fine. Anywhere in particular you’re thinking of?**

 

Candela paused to think. Spark’s house didn’t have many gyms nearby and she didn’t want to end up too far from the house just in case.

 

**> Not anywhere good**

 

**> If I may make a suggestion..**

 

**> sure**

 

**> I’m going to be in town to be dealing with some of the problem we’ve been facing two nights after today. We’ll be in close proximity to a community centre with a gym that could work. It would also mean you’d be near people though not under constant watch.**

**> You could bring Spark as well.**

 

**> What community centre is it**

 

**> Silverridge Community Centre. It’s not necessarily downtown but its very close to some more populated areas.**

 

The text displaying the name of the location lit up a light blue, indicating that it could be mapped from her phone. Out of curiosity she tapped on it and was taken to a mapping service that pinpointed exactly where she needed to go. The location looked familiar but it wasn’t somewhere she was comfortable with. The only saving grace was that it was surrounded by buildings and services of all kind and wasn’t out in the middle of no where. If Blanche was going to try anything it would be astronomically hard to do so. The only concern now would be whether or not she would be bringing anyone with her, and how she would get rid of them when it came time to meet up with Blanche.

 

Speaking of which, did she actually trust Blanche enough to meet alone with her? She risked losing public reputation to be having a friendly conversation with someone the trainers labeled as a threat but going alone risked the chance of something bad happening. She was instinctively skeptical of what could happen, and nothing Blanche said could change her mind.

 

She stared at the name and place for several moments before backing out and returning to her messages.

 

**> Okay I think I can do it**

 

**> Perfect, so Tuesday will work for you?**

 

**> Yeah I should be fine**

 

**> Since I have business I’ll be around town the whole day. I do have a break from between 6pm to 8pm so I think that would be the best time to do it**

**> Are you sure you’re alright with doing this? You don’t have to if you don’t want to**

 

**> I want to**

 

**> Okay, if you say so. **

**> Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this for you.**

 

**> Just dont pull anything funny**

**  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**  
** It took every persuasive technique in the book, but Candela finally managed to convince Spark that it was a good idea to go into town. The excuse of wanting to get out and away from the computer was weak, but thankfully he bought into it. It helped that ever since the encounter with the woman and her brother at their store Spark had been glued to Candela’s side, happy to learn more about the Pokemon they were now in possession of.

 

She felt bad deceiving him like this, but she knew it had to be done. If she was going to meet Blanche she needed to get away from Spark, and what better way than to go out into town. Besides, it wasn’t like she was doing this with bad intentions. If he knew why she had come this far he would do nothing but support her, right?

 

“You know, I’m really pumped about our new friends. Just today I was testing out some hits with Magneton and Dragonite and you won’t believe how hard they hit!” Spark half whispered half yelled to Candela from where he was standing on the bus. From underneath her chocolate bangs Candela smirked, ready to rehearse the tale again.

 

“Same here. I haven’t used a Pidgeot in months and it was a good refresher. Sometimes sticking with the basics is the right thing to do in battles. Oh, and speaking of which,” Candela looked down at her phone and scrolled through her recent messages with Blanche, careful to not dip her screen low enough for Spark to see. The gym the who had arranged to meet at was only a few stops away and she had to think quick, “There’s a gym nearby here that was just reported to be part of a robbery scheme that played out in the square. I saw it earlier and thought maybe me and you could take it on, just like old times? I’ve been looking forward for a chance to test out Pidgeot and you did say you wanted to start taking on gyms.”

 

Obviously with the bad execution of the idea Spark was unsure. He was never too big on battling and a part of Candela didn’t want to put him through it. The only motive keeping her going was the well being of her Pokemon and the anticipation to find out what Blanche was doing behind closed doors. She would be forced to inconvenience one to save another, even if she didn’t want to.

 

And she _really_ didn’t want to.

 

Spark looked down at his watch, likely checking to see if they had the time for a break. With each second that passed the bus crawled closer to the destination Candela was expected to arrive at. She didn’t know what she would do if he refused.

 

But thankfully for her he didn’t. He met her weary eyes with a small look of uncertainty before finally relenting. “Sure I guess, so long as you give the gym to Instinct if we win.”

 

Candela smiled, the weight on her back diminishing in seconds. “Deal.” As Spark went to pick up her things she quickly typed up a message.

 

**> Blanche we’re on our way there now**

 

The both of them got off at the next stop and decided on walking the next few blocks so that they could discuss what they wanted to do. Spark hoped to try and put them on the map and see how the new Pokemon could hold up while Candela just sprouted battle nonsense that had nothing to do with her actual intentions. She was happy to use Pidgeot and the others again but it wasn’t the reason she came this far and tried not to make it known. There was a fear within that swelled at the thought of growing too dependant or loving of Pokemon that spat in the face of what their beliefs were against, but she stood by the notion that if she ignored it the fear would eventually go away.

 

That of course didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. Blanche was unpredictable and manipulative at her worst, but was she truly genuine about her attempts to create a Pokemon strong but unchanged personality wise?

 

She didn’t want it to be true, but that didn’t mean she still didn’t consider it a possibility. Her hand unintentionally wandered to her back leg where she kept her Pokemon and patted it to reassure herself. Blanche may be strong, but she also used the same Pokemon time and time again. Candela had brought Pokemon with the type advantage, so any conflict would be in her favour. Or at least it would give her enough time to get away and call for help- though she didn’t want to think of that possibility.

 

Before she knew it, she and Spark were walking up the graceful steps to the gym that were painted by a golden aura by the sunset in the distance. The elegant blue banners were dull and slightly brown because of the lighting coming from the setting sun, but they still proudly presented the Mystic symbol hand designed by Blanche herself. The outskirts of the area was empty and lonely, but inside a few dark silhouette could be seen, meaning that there was still the option to challenge the gym.

 

“Well, better late than never. It’s time to see if we have a fighting chance Candela!” Spark bounded up the steps enthusiastically, with Candela barely being able to keep up. She almost stumbled on the last step and caught herself at the last moment, though Spark was too far ahead to see. With him out of view Candela could easily slip away, but she knew it was a bad decision to try and leave now. If he turned around and didn’t see her there it would make him panic and that would only make her feel worse than she already did.

 

She decided to wait.

 

Holding her head high to chase away the panic clouding her judgement, Candela strolled into the gym, following the path she had seen Spark take to arrive at the main battle arena. It was there she saw her best friend standing in front of three Mystic trainers, all of which were surprised to see the other team leader present. Unsurprisingly enough there was no referee on the site, making the situation a lot more complicated.

 

“What’re you doing here Instinct? We already beat you this morning, so unless you want to get utterly destroyed again you would be wise to go away!” The tallest one scowled, flicking his hand in a dismissive motion.

 

“My name isn’t Instinct, it’s Spark, and I’m here to challenge you to a battle!” The three blue-coated trainers looked at each other with raised eyebrows and smirks, almost in disbelief, “Winner takes the gym.”

 

“We already have it. That’s not really a bonus.”

 

“Then imagine the thought of potentially beating me, that’s gotta appeal to your egos.” One of them shrugged his shoulders while the other two had a silent conversation. Under normal gym laws the leaders were to battle anyone that challenged them, but something told Candela these three had turned away people before because they deemed them incompetent enough.

 

Finally, the one in the back spoke up. “Whatever you say, just don’t let the door hit you hard on the way out!” The first, and weakest trainer stepped forward and snapped his Poké Ball out, releasing a Porygon from the capsule. The pink and blue Pokemon let out a warped cry and turned to face Spark with the most furious glare it could muster. Candela instantly recognized it as a Pokemon that had been tampered with as the eyes zoned in on the two of them. The glint remained there, threatening them without having to say a word.

 

“Candela, help me out here would’ya?” Spark called out, releasing his own Jolteon. It may have been a Pokemon he was confident with, but it wasn’t one that was given to him by the Mystic trainers at the bar. It would stand no chance against the much stronger Pokemon the trainers here would be using.

 

However, the ability to have two trainers challenge a gym at once instantly gave them an advantage, and all Candela had to do was call out the Pidgeot given to her to even the tides. The adrenaline only a battle could give off infected Candela, and she felt reminisces of the old times flow back to her. She missed being able to battle like this without worries. This was something that defined her, and to have it back made her happier than ever.

 

It wasn’t fit to last though.

 

“Of course you Valors would never fight fair! Whatever, we’ll just have to destroy both of you. Porygon get into battle-“

 

“Sparky hit Porygon with a few Thundershocks right away!” Spark didn’t give the other a chance to psych up his Pokemon and went in for the kill. His Jolteon responded instantaneously, rushing forward with enough speed to launch a successful hit without worry that the other would dodge. Candela snapped out of her thoughts and similarly commanded her Pidgeot to hit Porygon with a Wing Attack. The much smaller Pokemon was overwhelmed by the two challengers and took both hits badly. The aftermath left it barely standing, and from there it miserably tried to dodge the multiple Thundershocks Spark was asking his Pokemon to perform. It still managed to dodge the majority of them even with the damage though, which was impressive. A normal Pokemon would normally not be able to take an attack like that with no downtime to recover.

 

“Porygon shake it off and use Zen Headbutt!” The Virtual Pokemon responded without question and collected a mess of purple shocks above its head. Pidgeot flew up upon sight, but Jolteon wasn’t nearly attentive enough and ended up being head butted in the side. Porygon didn’t relent and thus the attack sent Jolteon flying into the wall. “Nice one, now do it again and keep it pinned in the corner.”

 

“I don’t think so,” Candela cried out, pointing to Pidgeot, “Pidgeot swoop in with another Wing Attack and distract Porygon. Spark,” She turned to the distraught trainer, “I would focus on dodging for now.” The large bird soared down from above, its speed far outmatching Porygon’s. It used its beautifully large wings to whip up another storm that caught the small Porygon and pinned it to the ground.

 

“Porygon get up and use-“

 

“Pidgeot use Hurricane!” The quick interruption proved to be the deciding factor of the match. Pidgeot used the best of its stamina to conjure up a huge bout of winds. As it prepared to make contact Candela instinctively brought her arms up to cover her face and caught the other trainers doing the same. With a shrill cry Pidgeot effectively landed the final blow on Porygon and the gym exploded under intense gales that sent the banners flying.

 

After the smoke and breeze had cleared, all that remained of the opponent’s Pokemon was a scratched up image of pink and blue. The trainer looked a bit offended at the easy loss, but Candela couldn’t blame him. They must have won every fight that had come across them so far, only to lose this match in less than a few minutes. Bitterly, he recalled his Porygon into the Pokemon and stepped back to let another trainer take his place. 

 

Pidgeot returned to Candela, perching on her arm with a look of pride. Though not her Pokemon, Candela still found herself scratching its head in admiration. It was a fine specimen for sure, and one she would never be embarrassed of having. The raw power it held reeled her in.

 

“Hey you, Valor! Don’t heal your Pokemon, the match is still going. You have to take on Xavier and Claude without break.” The losing trainer cried out, pointing to his two companions.

 

“I’m not healing it, I’m just awarding the Pokemon for a job well done. Call out your next Pokemon already.” Candela shouted, looking at Spark from the corner of her eye. He looked exceedingly overwhelmed from the whole experience. Beside him his Jolteon was struggling to climb to its feet, battered and bruised from the impact with the wall. The surface behind it remained dented, a memory of what had happened to it and how hard it had been hit.

 

From the other side of the gym one of the older men was making his way to the battlefield, in his hands a polished Ultra Ball. He tossed it in the air and caught it once, shooting Candela a glare that failed to have any real strength behind it. She met it with a venomous scowl, shoulders raised.

 

With a grunt the trainer tossed his upper body forward and let the Ultra Ball fling out of grimy hands to reveal a massive Snorlax. The towering Pokemon let out a noisy snore upon release and barely missed falling over on its trainer, to the amusement of Candela.

 

Pidgeot seemed to sense the threat and shrieked out an ear splitting cry from its location on Candela’s arm. Sensing it wanted to leave, Candela hoisted her arm up to give it enough momentum to release its razor sharp talons from her sleeve and take to the skies. It looked regal and prepared to battle, the exact opposite of Jolteon. The poor Pokemon could barely muster enough strength to shake the debris from its needle shaped pelt and Candela had no confidence that it would be able to survive the next battle. Spark seemed to believe otherwise, his wide eyes stocked full of determination. 

 

“Snorlax use Lick on Jolteon but keep your eye on Pidgeot.” The large Pokemon stumbled to its feet and bounded forward with surprising speed, jaws opening to prepare for the use of the attack. Spark whistled, informing Jolteon to dodge. The much smaller and faster Jolteon easy stepped out of the way of the attack, sparing itself. Snorlax ended up collided into the wall behind it, looking rather dishevelled but determined as a result of the collision. It relentlessly paced forward again, Jolteon in its sights.

 

“Sparky use Thundershock and surround yourself. Don’t let it touch you without a shock first!” As Jolteon did so, Candela called on Pidgeot for a Wing Attack. The strong fast move made contact, but did little to deter Snorlax. The large creature grabbed onto Jolteon, bracing for the shockwaves before licking the electric eeveelution’s cheek, momentarily paralyzing it.

 

“Pidgeot use another Wing Attack!”

 

“Sparky use Thunderbolt and get yourself out of there!” Jolteon released as much energy as it could muster, momentarily shocking both Pidgeot and Snorlax before the large bird could fly out of range. The Sleeping Pokemon grunted but used Lick again, holding the Jolteon hostage under a barrage of attacks. The shock was preventing Jolteon from using anymore attacks, and under the strong moves it began to falter. The struggles decreased and from there it only took one last Body Slam to knock it out. 

 

Pidgeot, who had been attacking constantly with little luck, was now the next target until Spark called out another Pokemon. The bird realized the problem and flew up high and out of reach from Snorlax. It looked back at Candela and fixed her with keen eyes, almost as if asking permission to attack.

 

“Go on Pidgeot, use Hurricane again!” The bird circled once in the air then summoned more of its terrifying and fierce winds. This time the other trainers foresaw the attack and demanded Snorlax roll to the side so that it would miss the impact. The large Pokemon did its best, but when the attack landed it was still caught in the crossfire.

 

Before either Pokemon could even react another attack a powerful purple stream of light hit the already weakened Snorlax in the chest with precise accuracy and sent it flying back. Its trainer was given a single moment to dodge before the Snorlax made contact with the wall and was knocked out in a span of only a few seconds. Upon turning her head Candela caught sight of the Dragonite Giselle had lent Spark, and smiled at the reassurance of the strong Pokemon on their side.

 

Snorlax was recalled and replaced with an Exeggutor. The goofy Pokemon was outmatched two to one and it was only then did the Mystic trainers realize they were in trouble. Candela glanced at Spark, who flashed a confident grin back at her.

 

The battle ended as expected.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
It felt nice to win the gym back, and it was likely the first case of it happening in quite a bit. It was still a struggle regardless, and if they had been using normal Pokemon it wouldn’t have been an easy win. Jolteon would have been knocked out easy in the first round, and Candela’s Pokemon would have been the same had she not been using the rentals. Even with the modified Pokemon on their side Pidgeot sustained pretty rough injuries and was on the verge of being knocked out by Exeggutor’s relentless Psychic attacks. It was almost a miracle how it had managed to pull through, though Candela knew it wasn’t just any ordinary miracle. It was one associated with the look in its eyes that promised a vengeful fight no matter what.

 

But that was all behind them now. As promised, Candela gave Spark permission to fly the cheerful colours of the Instinct flag out front for the whole world to see. His smile practically lit up the room upon hearing so, and it was worth it all to see him look so genuinely happy. It was an added benefit she hadn’t been expecting when she convinced him to take a detour from their journey around town.

 

He had walked up to her and was babbling on about how exhilarating the battle was, barely giving himself a moment to breath. His chest heaved under the pressure of it all and Candela found herself steadying him by the shoulders.

 

“Spark calm down, you look like you’re about to pass out.” He grinned up at her, putting his hands on his cheeks in an affectionate gesture.

 

“Aw lighten up Candela! Look at how good our Pokemon did. I feel so happy for the little buggers.”

 

Candela let her warm hearted smile falter. “Remember we only did so well because we used the same rentals we did before. They’re not ours.”

 

“Yeah yeah if you’re being technical maybe, but they’re on our teams so they’re part of the family. By the way did you SEE that Hyper Beam.”

 

Candela chuckled. “Yes I did. You saved by Pidgeot several times there. Thanks for that, by the way.”

 

Spark rubbed the back of his head. “It’s nice to own such strong Pokemon. Oh- and if we’re lucky they’ll breed strong eggs too. That’s all I really care about in the end,” Spark rambled on, pacing around Candela.

 

Candela glanced back at the three Mystic trainers who were departing from the gym with broken expectations. “Yeah...”

 

Spark jumped to his feet, nearly hitting Candela in the face. “Well I’m gonna go hang the flag up front. You wanna come?”

 

Candela looked up, about to say yes before stopping herself. This was the perfect moment to sneak away without suspicion of where she was going. “Oh uh, I actually have to use the restroom. I’ll meet up with you out front when I’m done.” Spark goofily saluted and walked away, in his hands the bright yellow symbol of his team. 

 

After making sure no one was present in the room Candela sent a small snippet of text to Blanche indicating she was free and stepped out the doors to the back of the gym. It was far past their arranged meeting time, but something told her Blanche would have stuck around under all of the commotion.

 

Sure enough, her phone hummed only seconds later.

 

**> Candela, where are you?**

 

**> Im out behind the back of the gym**

 

**> Okay good. For a second I thought you went with Spark out front.**

 

**> No Im outside, but we got to hurry, he wont be out there for long**

 

Candela stuck her phone in her back pocket and let out a sigh, praying Blanche got here quickly. The nervousness had returned and she knew it would escalate the longer she had to wait. 

 

She put herself to use as she anticipated Blanche and called out her previously used Pidgeot. The regal bird barely managed to keep up in the air and gave her a look that she could only describe as gratitude when she asked it to land. Its left wing was badly mangled and there were multiple bruises and scratches all over its body. The poor thing looked about ready to faint on the spot.

 

Wasting no time she raided the bag she had on her, looking for potions. She knew she always had a few on hand just in case, which paid off at times when she really needed them. Luckily she had two Hyper Potions and a regular, more than enough to treat and disinfect the wounds plaguing the Pokemon’s body.

 

She removed the safety cap and beckoned the Pidgeot closer, hoping to get it done before Blanche arrived. The Pidgeot listened without hesitation and even went as far a holding out its injured wing. The quick agreeance meant Candela could do an even quicker patch job. Holding the nozzle close to where the wounds were she sprayed the potion and held the Pidgeot as it writhed in slight pain. For a few moments nothing happened but then slowly the bird Pokemon relaxed its tense muscles and let out a content chirp. 

 

“Candela.”

 

“Eep!” Candela jumped up, almost dropping Pidgeot’s Poké Ball and the potions, which both happened to be in her hand. She paused to catch her breath and then turned to see what was behind her. Lo and behold, Blanche was standing there in all her former glory. The heavy winter outfit was the same as before but the glasses had been discarded and the injuries from before had healed. You would have never been able to guess that Blanche had a black eye in the first place. The intimidation factor was still there, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Candela could at least maintain eye contact, as difficult as it may be.

 

Upon seeing both Blanche’s sudden arrival and Candela’s reaction the Pidgeot immediately went on the defensive, crying out at the threat and preparing to attack Blanche. Candela just managed to gasp out the command to stop before it attempted to claw the Mystic leader’s eyes out. 

 

“Calm down Pidgeot, it’s just me,” Blanche spoke, raising a single finger up against the fearsome bird. The creature arched its back and tucked its head into its body, eyes wary and suspicious. 

 

“S-Sorry, you just spooked it. I don’t think it takes kindly to threats made against me.”

 

“Ah yes, it is very protective of you. How long have you owned it?” Candela paused and lightly bit her tongue.

 

“Oh it’s not mine. This was gifted to me by a fellow trainer only a few days back.” She chose to leave Giselle’s name out even if Blanche was likely well aware of it.

 

“I suspected as such. The look in its eyes tells me the bird has been subjected to our evolution experiments to some degree.” Blanche walked by Candela, hands crossed behind her back, “The eyes are the windows to the soul. They speak more words than the actual figure does. Pokemon that have gone through certain experiences have scars that can be read in such a matter, Pidgeot is no exception.”

 

Candela tried not to grimace under the puzzling language Blanche was choosing to use. “So you can see the evidence of a Pokemon being evolved by candies by the way the eyes glint and sharpen. I had a feeling that was the case, but at the same time had my doubts. Some of the Mystic trainers I faced a few days back had Pokemon that did not look tampered with.”

 

“We only subjected very few to the experiments and stopped working on a species if any negative side effects occurred. As a result, not all of our trainers have them. It’s only those in power or those working in specific fields. Like, for example, the trainers you met in the gym. Though their’s have not received the same quality treatment that Pidgeot has.” Blanche reached up to stroke the multicoloured feathers on Pidgeot’s head, mindful of both the creature and the master in front of her.

 

After a moment she lowered herself from the balls of her feet and looked Candela straight in the eye. “But I’m rambling. I’m here for a reason and so are you.” Blanche knelt down and opened the small knapsack she had strung over her back. Inside she removed a belt that had six individual Poké Balls attached to it. Instantly Candela’s eyes focused on the red tape marking the outside and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in.

 

Blanche cupped the belt in two hands and gingerly held it over, waiting for Candela to take it. Without hesitation the Valor leader scooped it up and grabbed a hold of the first one, studying the outer appearance. Nothing seemed to be amiss and every detail was there, including the dents and scratch marks from years of use. If Blanche was trying to trick her, she was doing a pretty good job at it.

 

There was only one final test. Candela carefully aimed the capsule device at the ground and released what was inside, muscles tensing. The white light bent and twisted until it formed a four legged creature consumed by fluff. The light faded and in its place was Flareon, her life long partner.

 

Candela couldn’t and didn’t want to conceal her cry of joy, and she fell to the ground in pure disbelief. Her Flareon turned around upon hearing the noise and leapt into her arms with a happy cry. Its tiny tongue licked Candela’s cheeks as the ends of its fur heated up with excitement. Under the multiple licks Candela laughed wholeheartedly, content to be reunited.

 

When it got to be a bit much she let go of Flareon to collect the remaining five Poké Balls and stuff them into her bag. Flareon chirped and trilled to try and get her attention, padding around her on stubby little legs as it looked for kisses. However, all of its bubbly personality vanished the minute it laid eyes on Blanche.

 

It was if someone had turned a switch off. The happy Pokemon that existed a minute ago was all fangs and violence, bristling its fur and snapping out growls and hisses. Candela zipped her bag shut and eyed it with a look of disbelief. She had never seen the thing look so angry.

 

Blanche made no move to step back nor take the challenge and seemed content to just watch. Glancing apologetically at Blanche, Candela made the decision to return Flareon to its Poké Ball to avoid any attacks. She had no doubts it was ready to pounce at any second.

 

Standing up, Candela dusted herself free of dirt. “I’m so sorry Blanche, I have no idea what’s gotten into her. She’s probably still jittery and protective of me because of the last battle she was in.

 

“Don’t worry, I understand. Flareon will need time to recover. I’m just happy that you’re happy.”

 

Candela nodded, straightening her posture. “So, you actually came here and did this for me. I won’t lie I had my doubts, so this is a bit to take in.” Blanche blinked slowly, arms crossed.

 

“I wanted to make it up to you, and I’ll do anything I can to win back your trust.”

 

“We’ll see Blanche, we’ll see.” 

 

“Yes of course. You may also want to recall Pidgeot while you’re at it.”

 

She looked on with confusion before she realized that she never returned Pidgeot. She looked to the side only to see the big bird nursing its wound with expert care. Sighing in relief, Candela returned it as well, mentally promising to get it to a Pokemon Centre tonight.

 

“You do harbour a lot of care for that Pidgeot,” Blanche observed.

 

“It helped me win those battles and uphold my morals. For that, I’m grateful I have it on hand,” Candela looked back at Blanche, “And if it makes you feel any better, I am impressed by its strength. It’s taken out most of its opponents in a single hit and hasn’t fainted once since I obtained it. If in the future you chose to perfect your evolution method I think it would be very useful.”

 

Blanche’s lips parted slightly before she closed them in a small smile. “Thank you Candela, that means a lot to me.” 

 

But as soon as the smile was there, it vanished. “Now I would talk more but I think I have held you here for long enough. Spark must be looking for you.”

 

Candela’s pupils widened in realization and conscious kicked in. “Oh shoot, I should have been back ages ago.”

 

She made to sprint for the doors but stopped herself. Turning herself around she walked up to the Team Mystic leader with unease. “Um, thank you Blanche. I hope this is the start to something better.” She reached over to give a quick hug to Blanche and felt the much colder Blanche gasp in surprise. The excitement and adrenaline cooled as the two made contact and it left Candela feeling strangely drained.

 

Before she could think anything of it she was letting go of Blanche and backing away, waving her hand in good-bye. She pretended not to hear the avion cry of a Pokemon from behind her and ran into the gym, one hand holding the Poké Balls on her belt secure.

 

The encounter left her with strangely high spirits.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
The meeting wasn’t the end to Blanche and Candela’s conversations. If anything, they escalated. They texted and messaged whenever they could and Candela grew comfortable with the idea of being in contact with Blanche. 

 

After every conversation Candela slowly let go of the contempt growing within towards Blanche. The leader in question had revealed more and more of what was going on, some attributes surprising even Candela. Her expectations of what Mystic was like turned out completely different from reality. Though what impacted Candela the most was Blanche’s saddened grief at what her team had become after she had let it go- an empty shell of what it once was. 

 

Candela could only imagine how it felt to be betrayed by those closest to you. For someone so obsessed with control like Blanche was it must have been like sinking in quicksand.

 

The only thing that held Blanche back was the fact that she still didn’t let go of the grudge she held against the other teams. Everything else was slowly starting to make sense but that one topic in particular had no resolution. It forced Candela sneak around and hide her tracks, which was annoying. She didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

 

She thought wrong.

 

Candela must have been getting careless with her messages, as it only took a week or so to pass before Spark was angrily banging on her door. 

 

She had gone to bed that night with a positive mind, ready to have a normal sleep and get ready for tomorrow. Spark and her were going to go out take a path to the beach where Horsea were known to appear so that they could hatch some eggs. The promise of catching Pokemon and getting her life on her back on track comforted her and helped give her the strength to push everything else to the back of her mind so she could get a good sleep. Candela expected for tonight to be an easy night.

 

She did not expect to be woken up by being shaken back and forth by her friend, who looked both furious and painstakingly confused.

 

With half closed eyes Candela did her best to beat him away. “Shhp, Shrpark what’re you doing.” She took note that the windows were dark, indicating it was still very early in the morning. There was no reason for Spark to be here unless he was getting ready to take her on an insane overnight exploration. 

 

His expression made it clear that he wasn’t getting ready to take her on an overnight exploration, but was rather pissed off about something that likely had something to do with her. “Candela you’ve got three new messages from someone named “Blanche” and unless you just so happened to make a new friend we’re in trouble.” Candela squinted and turned her head, trying to figure out what the heck Spark was talking about. From above her Spark bristled.

 

“Whhat about Blanche?” Candela slurred out as her world slowly morphed into a blurry view.

 

“You. You’re talking with her, and maybe I’m just being paranoid but seems like it’s been for quite some time now.” When the worst of the drowsiness had faded the reality of the situation sunk into Candela and she stiffened, breaths stalling as her whole body refused to respond. Spark took the reaction for what it was.

 

“You’re talking to her aren’t you?” 

 

“No I’m not! S-She was just contacting me.” The obvious stutter gave her away immediately and Spark shook his head fiercely, his blond hair scattering. 

 

“No no no, I can’t believe it. You hate her, don’t you? You told me yourself!”

 

“Spark I... I don’t hate her. Maybe I’m a bit upset but I could never hate Blanche. She needs someone to shake some sense into her and I thought I would be able to help her out, no more no less,” Candela reasoned, bouncing up from the mattress and rubbing her arms nervously. 

 

“What have you told her!”

 

“I haven’t told her anything!”

 

Spark’s eyes were reflecting pure disbelief, as though he had just found out Candela was a murderer. “I thought I told you to stay away from her Candela! You shouldn’t be talking to someone like her so often- it-it’s just not safe! She’s not the same person you knew.”

 

“Who are you to care about who I’m talking to? I’m old enough to take care of myself; I don’t need your protection!”

 

“Clearly you do, seeing as how you’ve probably already gone behind my back before. Don’t think I didn’t notice you suddenly obtaining your old Pokemon after we battled those Mystic members keeping the gym hostage. I thought maybe it was a coincidence but now I can see it was you and your good friend Blanche trading weapons.”

 

“Weapons? Don’t be ridiculous,” Candela spat. “And give me that!” She swiped the phone from his hands, holding onto it with as much grip as she could muster.

 

“She gave you your Pokemon and you gave her your trust. You are aware she can use that against you.” Spark’s voice was rising in volume

 

“You’re just being paranoid!”

 

“Do you think she’d honestly come all this way to meet with you just to give you weapons to use against her? Why on Earth would she give you something that would be perfect leverage to use against her? She’s manipulating you!”

 

“Maybe she’s just realized that what she was doing was wrong, is that a crime? Maybe if we actually tried to reason with her we could avoid all of this fighting.”

 

“Do you think we’re stupid? We _have_ been reasoning with her. She won’t listen to us because she knows she can’t change our minds. Candela, you’ve been her friend for years and you’re practically her whole world, of course she’s going to go after you! She’s trying to sweeten you up so you fall right into her hold!” Spark screamed.

 

“You know what Spark, maybe she’s right. Maybe you’re just so obsessed with being right that you fail to see the actual problem. None of you know Blanche as well as I do so of course you’re going to think she’s lost it! I on the other hand can actually tell she’s sincere. I wouldn’t be putting myself in danger by meeting her if I didn’t.”

 

“Candela I swear only a few days ago you were saying the exact opposite thing. Don’t let yourself be tricked like this.”

 

“Do you have any proof that she’s done or will do anything bad to me?”

 

Spark burst out laughing. “Ha, haha! She really has you running in circles doesn’t she.”

 

“At least Blanche is trying to explain herself and bring up evidence. Anything you’ve said or told me has been contradicted or exaggerated. You told me it was incredibly damaging to the Pokemon but the five trainers we contacted said no harm ever came to them. You and Willow told me that Blanche was asking her trainers to raid stories, but not once have you ever given me proof that it has happened. Those trainers even told us it was the scientists using Blanche’s ideas and was not the fault of Blanche herself. She’s misled, yes, but that’s why she needs us. Alienating her is just going to make it worse.”

 

“She’s dangerous! It may not be as evil as you thought it originally was but that doesn’t mean what she’s doing isn’t bad. She’s still the one in charge, and yet she’s not only let her team commit armed robberies but gone against the teams in an attempt to be the one on top. And let’s not forget to mention that her evolution candy method is still inhumane in almost every way. Pidgeot may function as a normal Pokemon but it’s the best possible outcome. Blanche isn’t willing to change, she’s just using you. All she needs is one more team on her side to be able to get away with anything, and she’s darn close to it too. She’s nothing but bad news.”

 

“And maybe so but I’m trying to help the problem! We can end all of this right here and right now but you’re too stubborn to do it! We can go back to how it was before on the condition that you and Willow are willing to put in the effort to do damage control.”

 

“Whatever, I’m not going to argue about this with you anymore. Just know that I’m not going to associate with someone that could potentially turn against me, and that goes for Willow too. Don’t think I’m not telling him about this!” Spark left the room in a huff, slamming the door behind him.

 

Candela remained in place with her fists clenched as she heard the heavy footsteps stomp away from the room.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Spark’s words resonated with her long after the conversation had ended. The next morning he outright ignored her and made it clear that he wasn’t happy with her choice. It was only then did the guilt hit full force and Candela started to doubt what choice she had made. Blanche was on board, but Spark was the cost of it.

 

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that she cracked. Everything that was and had happened collapsed on her shoulders and she faltered. The feeling was suffocating but unlike before she was completely alone. Spark couldn’t look her in the eyes after she’d gone behind his back and Willow would approve of his actions. 

 

Though it wasn’t her first choice, she did have Blanche. It was better than waiting agonizingly for a team member to reply or some other obscure individual to take care of her.

 

Without thinking much about it she fished for her phone and pulled it free from her pocket, signing on and letting the light bathe her face. She tapped on Blanche’s name and were met with a variety of messages ranging from informal to worrisome about her previous responses, which to be fair sounded very unlike her. Candela didn’t stop to think on whether or not it was a good idea and started typing.

 

**> Blanche we need to talk **

**> please**

 

She put the phone down on the bed and cursed at herself out loud. This was all her fault. She was the one that encouraged Blanche in the first place and failed to stop her when she went too far. She didn’t see what bad would come of it and went against the friends that were there for her from the start. 

 

From its nest in the bedsheets Candela’s phone vibrated and jerked slightly. She groggily turned to see the the icon for a phone call apparent on the screen. Her mind told her not to pick it up, but her body was already reaching for it and tapping the icon with a evident force.

 

“Hello?” Candela murmured, trying to keep the volume of her voice as low as possible.

 

“I know you said you didn’t want me to call but I was worried.” Candela sighed upon hearing Blanche on the other end.

 

“Oh, i-it’s fine. I just need to talk with you, preferably somewhere not here.”

 

“Of course. I’m not doing anything right now, should I come over?”

 

“Not here,” Candela whispered under her breath, afraid that Spark would hear, “I was thinking maybe the Pokestop at Vlemmount Forest. You know where that is, right?”

 

“How could I forget. Too many good memories. Anyways, you want to meet now?”

 

“Now is good, I’ll have to walk over so I’ll be there in a few.”

 

“Before you go Candela,” Candela let her thumb hover over the end call button, “Are you going to be alone?”

 

“What kind of question is that?” It made Candela nervous, especially since she didn’t have any other option but to go alone now. A part of Candela was cynical of it and she did find herself stopping to think over what she should say. 

 

“We just got a message from Willow that threatened to put us out of business if we didn’t yield. I had no idea what he was talking about but he made it known he was out to get me. I thought you might be bringing the two to meet me or something.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about those two. It’s actually about something that happened with them. It’s not exactly good either.”

 

“I see. Well I just need to finish handing in a few reports here. I should be ten minutes at most but just to be safe lets say twenty in case I run into traffic.”

 

“Got’cha. See ya there.” Candela hung up then immediately wiped her forehead with the back of her arm.

 

Candela put her used phone in her back pocket and picked up her heavy bag. She didn’t bother packing clothes or electronics though she did consider the former at first. After this she would be willing to give Spark the space he needed, but until then she knew even with how angry he was with her his inner kindness would never let him evict her without notice. 

 

 Besides, she wasn’t going to let this conflict draw itself out forever. She hoped Blanche would be able to do something about it before it escalated. 

 

After making sure her emotions in check she exited the room, heading down the empty hall towards the front door. Spark, who was sitting down and watching television, watched warily when she turned the corner and entered his line of sight. He looked torn between showing concern and trying to ignore her. 

 

At first it seemed the latter had won, as no words were exchanged between them as Candela slipped her shoes on. The process seemed to take even longer than normal and made the already tense situation almost unbearable to sit through. Candela found herself rushing more than usual just to escape from it all.

 

But then, the moment her fingers brushed along the door frame a voice spoke up from behind her.

 

“I know you’re going somewhere. Don’t tell me you’re running away.” The voice sounded tired and hoarse, likely from the yelling that took place the night prior. From Candela’s point of view it was nothing like the happy and energetic Spark she knew and loved.

 

It hurt.

 

“I’m just going out for a walk. I’ll be back, promise.”

 

“Well that’s hard to believe but whatever. Just lock the door when you come back.” Spark relaxed as much as he could on the leather couch and tried his hardest to make it look like he wasn’t watching Candela. She wouldn’t have known regardless, as she was doing the exact same thing he was. Keeping her head down, she unlocked the door and stepped outside, shutting it behind her.

 

The walk to the park was a complete blurr. She had no idea what she was doing but a hidden sense of determination to set things right burned within. Candela had grown tired of either being the victim or the hero. She never asked to be dropped into this conflict, and now it threatened to destroy everything she held dear.

 

She sympathized with Blanche but at the same time detested her for her crimes against the Pokemon. She agreed with Spark that things were better before competition picked up, yet was bitter at him for failing to do anything to help her. She hated that not once did Willow step in to curb the problem in the right direction. She hated what he did to Blanche, how he tore her self esteem to pieces to the point where something large and terrifying was the only way to get her point across.

 

She hated herself for trying to stand in no man’s land and expect to not get hurt by the gunfire of both sides. 

 

Before she knew it, her shoes were relieved of the hard press of cement and were grazed by the soft texture of grass. The meadow and fields were bright and blooming as always, even near the end of the happy season. The large array of oak and elm trees had not yet changed colour and added to the green vibe that generously embraced the location. This park was where she caught her first Scyther and evolved her Eevee into a Flareon. It held some of her best memories, and yet today it did little to lighten her mood.

 

In the picture perfect image from her memory only one thing stood out, and that was the coated figure sitting on some of the slanted rocks in the middle of the square. Against the green hues her blue coat was a contrast, making her impossible to miss. One glance at the snow white hair told Candela this was Blanche. She honestly hadn’t expected the other to arrive so early, but it sped the process up quite a bit. It also saved Candela from being alone with her thoughts, something she had been dreading.

 

Blanche looked so quiet and serene that Candela almost felt guilty intruding in on her. The Team Valor leader normally known for her roaring entrances chose the silent approach and edged closer, happy to observe. 

 

It didn’t last long though, as when she stepped into the ring of rocks Blanche finally took notice of her presence, greeting her with a quaint smile that was nothing other than friendly. She released the dainty yellow flower she had been holding and walked over with the intent to embrace Candela. When she got too close though, Candela found herself pushing away and taking a few deep breaths in preparation.

 

“Candela? You look a bit shaken.”

 

“I’ve been better. Thank you for coming out here to meet me.” Blanche sat back down and patted the space next to her, urging the other to join her. Candela paused for a second before making her mind up and steadying herself on the smooth surface of the warm rock. The sun’s heat had been completely absorbed by that afternoon, making it a comfortable object to sit on.

 

Only once she balanced herself and rested her chin on her knee did Blanche glance over at her. “So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

 

“Spark found out I was talking to you.” Blanche’s fake-looking smile deflated and she dropped her shoulders, instantly knowing what the problem was.

 

“That would help some things make a lot more sense. What did he tell you?”

 

“It was nothing pretty. He reeked of disappointment and terror at me going behind him and contracting everything I told him. He thought I hated you, and maybe that was true at first, but not anymore. I tried to reason with him and then I said something that made it seem like I was against him. I- I never was against him! I just hate how everyone is dancing around this problem. Me, Spark, Willow, and yes, even you Blanche. No one is doing anything and now we’re all suffering. I’m a traitor to everyone now,” She buried her chin into the interior of her jacket, “Serves me right. I’m awful.”

 

“You’re not awful, you’re being reasonable. I tried to talk to Spark too, early on. He didn’t have much of a problem with it until Willow barged in and started yelling nonsense loud enough to burst my eardrums. It was only after the professor stepped in that Spark started to turn on me, and now I can see it has become a chain reaction. He’s simply parroting what Willow told him without actually understanding what he’s trying to say. If he came here with you before you had fought I’m sure he would start to see what I was talking about, and we could start solving the pre-existing problems instead of making new ones.” Candela huffed and tugged at her jacket’s sleeves. 

 

Blanche put her hand on Candela’s back. As always it was freezing, but somehow it felt even _colder_ than before. “Candela you have no reason to feel guilty. You did nothing wrong coming here to talk with me. If anything, you’ve made me aware of the problems I need to fix and given me an insight on how I should change. You’re the only one actually doing what’s best for the Pokemon around here.” Blanche took Candela’s calloused hands in her own and clutched them tightly to her clothed chest, fixing her with a reassuring smile.

 

Blanche looked to want to say something but there was an obvious delay in her reaction. “I’m willing to make sacrifices, even if your friends aren’t. Maybe some of this my fault, but that’s the reason why I’m working so hard to change it. I want your assistance in making the dream of strong Pokemon without the sacrifice of their well being a reality. I have mastered the art of evolution but that’s the only thing I’m relatively good at. You work alongside Pokemon and train them yourselves, creating bonds that last lifetimes. That is something I would like to achieve.” Her grip tightened, but it wasn’t painful. To the broken down and abandoned Candela it felt good to have someone listen to her and give a shoulder to lean onto. 

 

Candela narrowed her eyes, looking down. “When you approached this idea to me before you were dead set on ruling over the gyms, not equally sharing them though.” The Team Mystic leader shook her head, white hair loosening from her ponytail and flowing gently in the late afternoon breeze.

 

“What I am offering is not a conquering plot, but a way to change the world as we know it. If we stayed in the stone age and used harnesses to control Pokemon whilst refusing to change we wouldn’t be here now, would we? Technological advancements are wonderful Candela, and though I will admit I got carried away with executing it I still believe we can make something good from this.”

 

“The only way you could make something good come from this would be to sort out whatever conflict you have with Willow.”

 

Blanche looked up, left hand fidgeting with her jacket’s belt as the other sunk into her coat pocket. “That’s the only thing that has given me any trouble.”

 

“I know, and it’s holding your team back. If you really want to turn this bad situation into a good one you’ll need the support of all three of us, and until you make up to Spark and Willow we won’t be doing anything together.”

 

“I agree, and I will do something about it. Of course there will be a few controversial decisions that may take time to work through, but that doesn’t mean I won’t consider it,” Blanche smiled, eyes shining brightly, “I’m _so_ happy to have you back on my side, I really am.”

 

Candela wanted to say she was on no side, but before she could even think of how to voice it Blanche had enveloped her in a tight hug, burying her cheek into Candela’s shoulder. It was like taking a blizzard on head first, and was so very cold, but Candela persisted, letting her hands cling to Blanche’s back.

 

The faintest touch of Blanche’s lips on Candela’s forehead was bone-chilling, almost absolute zero. Her arm felt pricked and her warning gasp only served to make the pressure far worse, and far more painful. Candela’s eyes struggled to stay open and she felt herself fall back into Blanche’s hold, clutching onto the soft material of Blanche’s jacket like a lifeline. She fought the urge to keep her eyes shut and squinted out from beneath her long lashes. 

 

Blanche was there, but her turquoise eyes were an icy blue that was anything but familiar. On her shoulder was a moving object, feathered and terrifying. The vague avian creature’s figure blurred in and out of focus as Blanche's face because harder and harder to see. Candela was only given a brief moment of realization before her body gave out under the penetrating temperatures and she lost consciousness. 

 

In retrospect, maybe Candela shouldn’t have fallen into Blanche’s honeytrap so easily.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done, I can't believe it! Thank you so much everyone for reading. All of your comments have made me so happy and I even teared up on some occasions. I hope you all enjoyed the ending, even if it was a bit of tease.


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